Talking to Strangers
by KonspiracyKid
Summary: What are the chances of two people who already know each other meeting on a website with over 7000 users? Obviously fate would have them be together. Now they just have to figure it out for themselves. Shizaya, multi-chapter, lemon.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Nonsense:**

Rated M for eventual SMEX.

My first multi-chapter! o wo

Sorry for those of you who might have been expecting more Kuro stuff from me. I'm also working on some of those, but I've been working on this one for months and since I'm getting close to finishing it, I figured I'd start posting.

I guess I'll say this at the beginning…when you get to it, "tsuyoi" means strong in Japanese. It's a really stupid pun and I am uncreative, lmao.

Enjoy!

**xXxXx Chapter 1 xXxXx**

_You are now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!_

Before Shizuo had a chance to sneer at the cheerful command with disgust, aforementioned random stranger spoke.

_Stranger: Are you one of those random sex people?_

Shizuo stared at the screen, slightly offended, and lifted his fingers over the keyboard, tapping out the word with slow staccato movements.

_You: no_

The stranger replied instantly.

_Stranger: Oh good, I've gotten like ten of those in a row. The internet is a lonely place!_

…

_You: i guess so_

_Stranger: Not very talkative, are you? What are you doing in a random chat then?_

_You: i don't want to do my math homework_

_Stranger: Same! See, we already have something in common. _

_Stranger: So where are you from, math-hating stranger?_

Shizuo considered this for a moment. He could heed the warnings of his parents and the media, but what would be the point, really? If anyone ever came after him, he could just beat them to a pulp and be on his merry way. Not that that was the best solution, of course. Shizuo was against violence. But if it came down to it…Well, anyway.

_You: ikebukuro._

_Stranger: …You're kidding me._

_You: no…._

_Stranger: I'm from there too!_

_You: why should I believe you?_

_Stranger: …..Brr! That was cold._

_You: like you said, the internet's a lonely place. _you_ could be one of those random sex people for all I know. i'm not interested in that shit._

_Stranger: Wow! finally got you to talk. No, I'm not a random sex person. _

Not that this person's word meant anything. They could be a 50 year-old balding man living in their grandmother's basement. In fact…

_You: are you some 50 year old fat guy living in their mothers basement?_

_Stranger: LOL no, I'm a girl. And I'm 17._

_Stranger: I'm guessing you aren't one either. _

_Stranger: 50 year old fat guy, that is._

_Stranger: Although I get the feeling you're a boy._

_You: …yeah_

_Stranger: You sure are interesting. You seem to hate talking but here you are on a random chat room. I bet you're really popular at school. Jock boy or something, right?_

_You: not really. i don't play sports mu__ch. im to __competitive_

This was a bit of an understatement. He'd been disqualified from every sports club and team on several different campuses because of his tendency to have little "outbursts".

_Stranger: Still, I bet tons of girls have crushes on you and you don't even know it. I can just tell._

Shizuo scoffed. Any smart girl would keep her distance from him. The second she started complaining about her hair or saying she lost her lip gloss she'd be at risk of being chucked out a window.

_You: what a crock of shit_

_Stranger: Modest too. Okay, how about me?_

_You: what?_

_Stranger: Guess some stuff about me._

This could be fun. He'd bring this dumb chick back down to earth and out of her pink-clouded, unicorn infested dream-world. She was obviously patronizing him.

_You: obviously your really annoying. your probably one of those girls that goes around in packs and wears tons of make up cuz you think your ugly, which only makes you uglier, and you talk about nothing but boy bands. And you love glitter and pink things_

_Stranger: Buu-buu, wrong. I'm kind of a loner. And I don't wear make-up. I know I'm pretty. I have on occasion discussed a boy band or two, and I do have a fondness for sparkly things. But not pink. I prefer purple. Let's see…that's a 33.3333333333333%. F!_

_You: but _you_ didn't get anything right!_

_Stranger: True!_

Shizuo laughed a little. Then he caught himself and made a face. That hadn't been funny. He wasn't even sure why he was still talking to this wack-job. It wasn't like he didn't have friends. He had more friends than he cared to talk to, seeing as most people annoyed him. Shinra, his best friend, annoyed the crap out of him ninety percent of the time.

The blonde glanced the floor to the side of his desk, where his bag lay half open, crumpled math papers peeking out from it pitifully. He winced and jerked his neck back to the computer screen, cracking it while he was at it just to be manly.

_You: alright, you win. i really fucking hate math. talk about whatever you want._

_Stranger: Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay__! Do you have MSN?_

_You: no_

_Stranger: AIM?_

_You: yeah_

_Stranger: Mine is Orio369. Talk to me there!_

_Stranger has disconnected._

**xXxXx**

"Hey, Shizuo!" Shizuo turned.

"Oh, 'sup, Kadota?"

"Wanna hang out today? We're going for karaoke."

"I can't, I gotta go home," the blonde admitted to the other's disappointment.

From nowhere, Shinra appeared, clapping one of his hands on each of the others' shoulders and wedging his way between them. "You mean you gotta go home and talk to your _giiiiiiiiiirlfrieeeeeeend_," he sang annoyingly.

Shizuo reached over his shoulder and shoved the bespectacled teen in the face. "Shut up," he muttered.

"I thought you didn't date, Shizuo," Kadota interjected, confused, but with a teasing lilt. The blonde had been known to be very picky regarding women. Which really meant he had only been known to have dated about three girls, each only lasting a week or so. Each relationship had ended on a rather abrupt note (and Shizuo was proud to admit none of them had been abruptly _violent_—but that was all), and all the girls since then who might be tempted to like him because of his charming looks were put off by his frosty demeanor.

"She's not my girlfriend, Shinra's just being a dumbass. I don't even know her name," he confessed.

Kadota gave him a skeptical look. Shizuo pretended the conversation was over and kept staring straight ahead as he walked, so he turned to Shinra instead for an explanation. Shinra happily supplied one. "He was bored one day and went on that creepy Omegle website and met this girl but they decided not to tell each other their real names—I don't particularly know why, I mean it's more dangerous that they told each other they both live in Ikebukuro—but anyway he fell in lo—"

Shizuo had wrapped his arm around the other's head, covering the babbling mouth that continued to exclaim muffled protests with his hand in the same motion. The third party blinked. "Sounds great. Well…I'm gonna go. Have fun with…whatever it is you're going to do, Shizuo," he said before turning in the opposite direction.

Shizuo gradually forgot he had his friend in a headlock as he stared off into space. Orio369 was definitely not his girlfriend. It had been her idea not to use names. To make it more fun, she had said. Shizuo supposed it was so she could continue to undermine him by giggling about his screen name to her friends (admittedly, "tsuyoiboi" was pretty lame; his brother had signed him up without consulting him). He definitely didn't like her or anything. Sure, they agreed on a bunch of stuff. He thought violence was bad, she thought violence was bad (and even admitted to getting in a few cat fights, although Shizuo was sure they were nothing compared to what he had accomplished). He liked B movies, she liked B movies. They both liked living in Ikebukuro, with the exception of a few key people. But that couldn't be helped unless you wanted to become a hermit, something they both recognized. The thing that annoyed Shizuo about her was that everything was a joke. She was just so damn _peppy_, and he couldn't help but think everything she was telling him was fake, possibly because she never really told him anything at all.

"Ughh, what the fuck?" He jerked his hand away from whatever wet, foreign object had just offended it. "You _licked_ me? What are you, four?"

Shinra chuckled and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Sorry, but you were starting to cut off my air supply a bit. Were you daydreaming about _her_?"

"If I said yes would you shut up?" he retorted, returning Shinra's DNA to him via his sleeve.

"No."

"Then no."

"Liar."

"Shinra…go home."

**xXxXx**

_Tsuyoiboi has signed on._

He hastily clicked the "Invisible" button, not wanting Shinra to continue his taunting. Then he double clicked on the top name to open a chat window, wetting his dry lips unconsciously.

_Tsuyoiboi: hey_

_Orio369: Hello!_

_Tsuyoiboi: oh god I don't think I can handle three exclamation marks. what happened_

_Orio369: Nothing, I just like talking to you._

Shizuo's heart gave a little extra thump. "I do not like her," he told himself out loud.

_Orio369: So, how was school?_

_Tsuyoiboi: ugh don't ask. It's such a boring topic_

_Orio369: No marriage proposals today then?_

_Tsuyoiboi: what?_

_Orio369: Nevermind haha ;P_

_Tsuyoiboi: uh no. my friend asked me to go to karaoke but I don't feel up to it_

_Orio369: You sick?_

_Tsuyoiboi: no, I just don't sing. ever._

_Orio369: Hahahaha. Darn I'd love to hear you sing._

_Tsuyoiboi: yeah so you can make fun of me_

_Orio369: Exactly! :D_

_Orio369: So what's new, if not school?_

_Tsuyoiboi: nothing. ever. why don't you ever talk about yourself, if you're so eager to talk? all you do is agree with me. idiot_

_Orio369: You're so meannnnn!_

_Tsuyoiboi: you're just annoying_

_Orio369: You know you love me._

Thump.

_Tsuyoiboi: you wish._

_Orio369: Fine, fine, I'll talk. What should I talk about?_

_Tsuyoiboi: whatever you want_

_Orio369: If I talk about what I like to talk about you'll get bored._

_Tsuyoiboi: so bore me. as long as its not math…_

_Orio369: Haha true, true._

_Orio369: I like cats._

_Tsuyoiboi: boring_

_Orio369: I like Oreos. Thus, my screen name._

_Tsuyoiboi: lame_

_Orio369: My favorite utensil is the spork._

_Tsuyoiboi: sporks are gay._

_Orio369: Stop being an asshole! What do you want to know then? _

_Orio369: P.S. NO U_

_Tsuyoiboi: tell me stuff other people don't know._

_Orio369: Sorry, I'm kind of a private person._

_Tsuyoiboi: were on the internet. its not like we know each other or anything_

_Orio369: Fine…_

_Orio369: Did you know…_

_Orio369: The secret of life is 42? :D_

_Tsuyoiboi: your hopeless._

_Orio369: :heart:_

_Orio369: Well, how about this then: I like running. Or rather, I have to run a lot._

_Tsuyoiboi: gym teacher a bitch?_

_Orio369: Something like that._

_Tsuyoiboi: i run a lot too. _

_Orio369: Oh really? Just for the exercise or what?_

Shizuo tapped his fingers on the keys without actually typing anything, a nervous habit. If he told her why, she might think he was just a big bully. But god, if there was anything he had to say about anything, it was that he hated Izaya Orihara.

_Tsuyoiboi: actually its from chasing this asshole around town, Izaya Orihara. i hate him, and he's always provoking me to beat the shit out of him. so i try. little prick is fast as fuck though._

Miles away, fingers froze above a keyboard.

There was only one person the owner could think of who would ever say those words.

Oh, this was just _delicious_.

Suddenly, their face snapped into a smirk so wide it would have hurt anyone with less practice of the expression.

Shizuo Heiwajima!

Fingers danced across the keyboard with malice, stabbing like daggers.

_Orio369: Ohh? Why do you hate him so much? I'm curious._

_Tsuyoiboi: hes just an asshole. he sends GANGS after me. he freaking tried to cut me open the first time we met. (yeah, with a knife)_

_Orio369: Maybe he just wants to be friends. :P_

_Tsuyoiboi: FRIENDS? yeah fucking right!_

_Orio369: You know boys, they're mean to people they like._

_Tsuyoiboi: im not._

_Orio369: You are too. You're mean to me._

_Tsuyoiboi: maybe I just don't like you._

_Orio369: You do._

"And that means you're mine," Izaya Orihara said to himself.

**Author's Nonsense:**

Sorry if the first chapter was a little slow, I promise it'll get better. Reviews may make the next chapter come out sooner ;P

Thank you as always to my beta/bff AcornWarrior :D ILU DON'T EAT THE LUCKY CHARMS.


	2. Chapter 2

**xXxXx Chapter 2 xXxXx**

Life was good.

This was one of Izaya's most frequent thoughts these days.

Why?

He held the key to destroying his worst enemy. Shizuo Heiwajima would be slave to his will, if all went according to plan. Which it would. Things always went just as planned for Izaya. He was charming and handsome and intelligent so he got his way. Shizuo, on the other hand, was a dumb brute. Although Izaya did admit he was attractive. Not to him, of course. But he could understand if others found him attractive.

Anyway, Shizuo's qualities weren't really why Izaya's life was good right now. Thanks to an unwelcome spell of boredom one Tuesday night, Izaya had made a new acquaintance. Or rather an old one. And this acquaintance thought he was a girl. (Of course, Izaya always pretended to be a female on the internet. For safety reasons. People generally are willing to reveal more about themselves to women.) He had decided he would use this person as one of his pawns as soon as he had discovered they were conveniently located in the same area as he was; so yes, he had been slightly disappointed when this plan was no longer feasible. But this was even better than a new challenge; it was a new way to approach an old challenge.

Oh, the possibilities! But none so appealing as the one Izaya had selected for his revenge.

Well, no, revenge wasn't exactly the right word. Revenge implied needing to bring another person down to one's own level as payment for a wrong that had been done to oneself. Izaya didn't consider Shizuo to be a level above him in any way; he quite obviously had the upper hand in all of their conflicts. He could elicit just as much pain with his flick blade as the blonde could with his fists, if he chose to. But he never did, because he was in it for the fun, and if he ever killed Shizuo…well, what fun was a dead toy? The blonde was the one who was always taking everything so seriously, trying to kill _him_. Izaya just played along because his illogical rage was unpredictable, and therefore entertaining. But this new plan promised to be even more delightful than usual.

He would make Shizuo Heiwajima fall in love with him, and then he would break his heart.

**xXxXx**

"Shiiizuuuooooooooo!"

Shizuo sidestepped the rampaging brunette, whose momentum caused him to tumble down the stairs and crash into the opposing wall. He stuck his hands in his pockets and stood at the top, glaring down at Shinra with a kind of bemused distaste. "I've told you before Shinra; I don't do hugs."

The rejected teen gingerly righted himself, holding his head with one hand and straightening his glasses with the other. He decided to stay down while he shared his news with his friend. "Are you going to the party Usado invited everyone to?"

"No." He started to walk off and heard a scrambling as Shinra struggled to climb up the stairs and catch up with him.

"I figured you would say that because you're always saying you hate girls and you hate dancing and you're just generally a negative person—you know you really should try to smile more, because as an aspiring doctor, I have to say, the elasticity of your skin is decreased by frowning and if you smile—"

"SHINRA!" Shizuo roared, stopping abruptly and wheeling around to face the rambling male. "Get to the point," he demanded.

"You should invite that girl!" Shinra said breathlessly. He clamped his hands onto Shizuo's shoulders and shook him lightly, something the blonde did not take kindly to. "You have to!"

He brushed the other teen's hands off him and resumed his lonely walk down the hallway. "No," he repeated. This time it wasn't as forceful as it was…sad. His friend picked up on this change and followed him, proceeding with caution.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to! God, you're such a pest."

"I don't think you don't want to. I think it's more that you're afraid."

"What do I have to be afraid of?"

"Rejection." They were outside now, and Shinra was starting to get a little nervous. Shizuo was walking towards the gates. He abruptly changed the topic. "Um, Shizuo, where are you going?"

"Skipping. There's only two more hours left anyway."

"But Shizuo, you can't!"

Shizuo snorted. "What, are you gonna stop me?"

"N-no…" He stopped at the gate and looked around nervously. "Come on Shizuo, lunch is almost over."

The blonde ignored him. He threw his jacket over the wall and wedged the toes of his shoes into the brick, where past delinquents like himself had worn indentations in it through their constant escapes. He landed with a dull smack on the sidewalk, and picking up his jacket, waved to Shinra and ran down the path towards home.

**xXxXx**

Shizuo fumbled with his keys listlessly, his mind focused on more important matters. He had forgotten about Usado's party as soon as she had mentioned it, never being one to attend dances. He found them immature and pointless, just a chance for the less disciplined students at his school to get together and stew in their mindless lust. Since parties like these tended to be the only way to escape adult supervision, kids tended to take the opportunity to make out fiercely, or, even worse, pair off to the bathrooms of whatever club they were held in and lock the door.

Shizuo kicked off his shoes against the wall and traipsed into his room, where he collapsed on the bed. He turned his head lazily towards his computer and watched the lights on the modem blink at him sporadically. She probably wasn't back from school yet, so there was no point in signing on. In fact, now that he was lying down, his body felt buzzed and alive.

He jumped off his bed and stripped off his school uniform, choosing to take on a more inconspicuous appearance. He'd had to take the back alleys he knew so well from chasing Izaya to get home, lest any wayward cop stop him for truancy. But now that he planned to go for a walk, a simple red and orange striped jersey and some jeans would suffice. He was tall enough to be mistaken for an adult, so the change of clothes erased almost all of the possibility of being caught skipping.

Shizuo slipped back into his shoes and dropped his keys back into his pocket after locking the door. He stepped out into the bright sun, took a deep breath of stale city air, and started to walk.

He didn't even know what school she went to. Would it be weird to bring someone from another school to a party hosted by a girl he barely knew? It had been nice of Usado to invite everyone, but he had a feeling it was a condition her parents had put forth. He frequently got the vibe from her that she, like most other people with more than one brain cell to rub together, was afraid of him. And then it would just be weird to show up with someone she had definitely not invited. What if Orio369 was prettier than Usado? Girls were stupid about that kind of thing.

She probably was. Prettier than Usado. Not to say that was an easy feat, as Usado was one of the more attractive girls in the school. She had long, natural raven hair with tasteful bangs. Her eyes were big and dark and even on her face. She was the perfect height: just shorter than the average boy so it was cute. But somehow he knew Orio369 was better.

Not that he'd have been disappointed if she was less than gorgeous. His general lack of attraction to people made him less shallow than others. He appreciated them if they had tolerable personalities.

So then, why was he thinking so hard about Orio369? She was the kind of person he hated. She was obnoxious. Constantly talking, and about pointless things like his feelings or his life. He wondered why she was so reluctant to talk about herself? Telling him stupid things like "I like Oreos" and "I run a lot". He wondered if she would tell him if she liked dancing or going to parties?

Shizuo blushed and shoved his hands deep in his pockets, shoulders tensing. It was stupid to even think about. If she wouldn't tell him her name, why would she want to meet him, let alone go to a party with him?

He didn't even want to go with her anyway! At least online he could make up an excuse and leave if she got too chatty, but at a party he would be stuck with her.

But he never did make up any excuse. He always stuck it out, and found himself laughing sometimes at her ridiculous questions and abuse of exclamation marks and text faces.

"Don't hurt yourself thinking, Shizu-chan."

Shizuo snapped his head up, senses fueled into alertness by adrenaline that had been released when he was shocked out of his reverie. Izaya, in a green T-shirt and black jeans, was leaning against the wall of a shop the blonde had been about to pass. He swung away from the building and hopped around to Shizuo's other side. "I thought you were gonna walk right past me!"

Shizuo gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He jammed his elbow backwards, aiming for Izaya's stomach, but he was not fast enough. The raven-haired youth leapt back to safety and danced around. "What were you mooning over? Or should I guess and say _who?_"

The furious teen stalked over to a parking meter and wrapped his hand around it. The metal screamed as it was torn off at the base. "None of your business, Izaya," he growled.

Izaya darted out of the way of the potentially fatal projectile and continued his taunting. "Shinra told me you've got a girlfriend. I'd like to meet her."

"Shinra's got a big mouth." He lunged forward and his prey darted off. He barely slowed at the next corner to rip up a stop sign as he chased Izaya into an alley. It opened up into a busy road in the business district. The sign soared through the air and missed its quarry, sticking into and cracking a supporting column in front of a law firm. Then the pest disappeared. He wheeled around, thinking perhaps the devilish teen had backtracked, growing more irritated by the second. Why did Izaya have to ruin _everything?_ He had been having a really meaningful thought session and it had been disrupted for no reason. Just Izaya being an asshole, as usual. He clenched his hands into fists so his fingernails dug into his palms. "IZAYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Up here!" He waved from the top of the building next to the one Shizuo had just mauled.

With an angry sort of roar, he dashed over to the chain link fence in between the buildings that would allow him to join the other on the roof. As he climbed, Izaya's sleazy voice flooded his ears. "So it's not true? In that case, I don't know why you bother, Shizu-chan. All the girls are afraid of you." Shizuo's toe missed the loop he was aiming for and skidded down the fence. He struggled to regain his footing as the shock-induced heat wave caused him to break out in a light sweat.

At the top of the fence, he grabbed on to the gutter and quickly lifted himself on to the roof. Izaya was standing on the opposite side, flipping his knife open and closed. "Even if a girl did somehow like you—and I can't imagine one ever would—imagine what her parents would say? Probably something along the lines of 'If that boy ever comes within one mile of our house, we're calling the cops.'"

Shizuo ripped the gutter from its place on the roof and hurled it at the dark-haired youth like a javelin. It missed so badly Izaya didn't even have to flinch out of the way. "Wow, looks like I really struck a nerve, didn't I?" he said with a sneer. He pulled out his phone and flipped it open, then frowned. "Looks like I have to go. Dinner time. Have fun with your hand, Shizu-chan!" Izaya leapt off the other side of the building and ran off. The remaining teen sat down on the roof with defeat.

**xXxXx**

_Tsuyoiboi: aughhhhhhhh_

_Orio369: What?_

_Tsuyoiboi: AUGHHHHHHHH_

_Orio369: WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?_

_Tsuyoiboi: i hate izaya! i fucking hate that bastard!_

_Orio369: Why?_

_Tsuyoiboi: because hes an asshole why else?_

_Orio369: Care to be a bit more specific?_

_Tsuyoiboi: not really._

_Orio369: Fine then. Suffer._

_Tsuyoiboi: like talking to you is going to help anything_

_Orio369: You never know ;P_

_Tsuyoiboi: ….i cant believe you think he wants to be friends with me. thats kind of hilarious_

_Orio369: Just tell me what he did! You'll feel better._

Shizuo dug his fingers into his hair and tightened his grip, pinching the blonde locks uncomfortably as he glared at the screen. What a loser he would sound like if he told her. It was bad enough that the conversation had turned so it sounded like he was being _bullied_ like some pathetic nerd. It was severely undermining his dignity. To tell her would be to lose even more of it.

_Bye, dignity_, he thought bitterly.

_Tsuyoiboi: he basically said no girl in her right mind would ever go out with me, and if they did want to her parents would call the cops on me._

_Orio369: Aww…I'm sure that's not true._

No reassuring "_I would gladly go out with you if only you'd have me!_" Not that he'd been hoping for that. Not at all.

_Orio369: You've got a great personality. You're very funny and I think you're pretty smart, even though you type like a barbarian._

_Tsuyoiboi: gee, thanks. as if that means anything anyway. you ever notice how all anyone ever has to say about the person they like is that there funny smart and attractive?_

_Orio369: Well…yeah…but I didn't say you were attractive :)_

_Tsuyoiboi: i am attractive_

_Orio369: Then congratulations, you've achieved the trifecta!_

_Tsuyoiboi: i still dont feel better. _

_Orio369: I'm sorry._

_Orio369: Want to talk about something else?_

"Do you like parties? And dancing? Because there's this party I was invited to and if you thought it would be cool, we could go together. Also, I am a complete fag." Shizuo planted his head heavily on his keyboard, causing random messes of letters to appear on the screen.

_Tsuyoiboi: _

_Orio369: You wouldn't happen to be head-desking, would you?_

_Tsuyoiboi: no_

_Tsuyoiboi: what school do you go to_

_Orio369: Lol that was random._

_Orio369: I don't know if I want to tell you :l It could be dangerous._

_Tsuyoiboi: i go to raira. there, i told you mine first, so now the dangers on me_

_Orio369: Omg…_

_Tsuyoiboi: what_

_Orio369: OMG!_

_Tsuyoiboi: WHAT_

_Orio369: I GO TO RAIRA TOO._

He felt a dizzying rush go through him. His body chilled and he shook his head to get rid of the feeling. What should he do now? Then something in his mind, which had been thrust into chaos, connected with something else.

_Tsuyoiboi: if you go to raira and you know i hate izaya how do you not know who i am_

_Orio369: I'd never heard of Izaya before I met you._

_Tsuyoiboi: i thought the whole school knew. we tend to destroy things on a regular basis. it usually draws a crowd_

_Orio369: I guess you're not as well-known as you thought you were._

_Tsuyoiboi: …..if we both go to the same school we can tell each other our names, right?_

_Orio369: NO!_

_Tsuyoiboi: ….why not?_

_Orio369: Because this is fun! I want to see if I can figure out who you just from talking to you._

_Orio369: It's like a game! I love games!_

_Orio369: Don't try to take it away from me :(_

_Tsuyoiboi: ….._

_Tsuyoiboi: fine._

_Orio369: Don't you think it's fun?_

_Tsuyoiboi: no. id rather just know who you are._

_Orio369: You know who I am._

_Orio369: I'm the crazy girl you met on the internet. _

**Author's Nonsense:**

This chapter makes me uncomfortable! Not sure why! I just don't feel good about it.

Thank you all for all the positive feedback anyway! I hope this wonky chapter doesn't turn you off to the entire story…lol that would be so embarrassing... I promise it gets better! :D

I am overusing exclamation marks today! I guess maybe I'm happy because it's the weekend after the first week of school? It was very boring, thanks for asking. Go seniors…y-yay…


	3. Chapter 3

**xXxXx Chapter 3 xXxXx**

_Tsuyoiboi: kadota and shinra want to take me girl hunting_

_Orio369: Don't you ever start a conversation with "Hi"?_

_Tsuyoiboi: sorry_

Izaya waited a moment before responding. He would have to be careful about what he said.

_Orio369: So…girl hunting. What exactly does that entail? A BB gun and a big fish __net?_

_Tsuyoiboi__: i think in shinras case it might be more about chloroform_

_Orio369: Hahaha_

_Orio369: Oh yeah_

_Orio369: Wait, why is he coming?_

_Orio369: I thought you said he had a girl?_

_Tsuyoiboi: yeah, hes kind of in love with this chick who…works with his dad. its complicated_

_Orio369: I see. _

_Orio369: What about Kadota? Is he a real ladies' man?_

_Tsuyoiboi: well i guess girls like him but hes kind of eh about them_

_Tsuyoiboi: oh crap there here_

_Orio369: Well I'm sure you'll have fun anyway. Go prove Izaya wrong! I know you can!_

_Tsuyoiboi has signed off._

Izaya followed Shizuo's lead and signed off, spinning around in his chair to face his bed. This was not good. If those two managed to hook Shizuo up with some random girl, there was the smallest of chances that he would actually like her and forget about Orio369. That would completely ruin his plan, and that was unacceptable.

Only one thing to do, then.

He launched himself up and grabbed his coat from the closet before he dashed out the door.

**xXxXx**

Shizuo was silent as Shinra and Kadota led him into downtown Ikebukuro. It was late Saturday afternoon, which was the best time to pick up girls according to Shinra. Which really meant 'according to the internet', because there was no way the brunette knew from experience. They weaved their way through the business district, seeing an occasional girl here or there, but no groups large enough for them to target. Shinra's research had also informed him that it was not wise to go three-on-one. Something about it being creepy. Somehow the aspiring doctor had never thought of this before, and thus it was now the topic of his conversation.

"It makes sense…but at the same time it doesn't. I mean, I can understand why in today's society it would be dangerous and unseemly for one teenage girl to go off with three attractive teenage boys. It's just inappropriate, and could be considered slutty. But on the other hand, it implies that no female could ever take on three males, which is sexist and also wrong. It's not polite to assume a girl would be opposed to having three suitors at once. And that she would assume it was a threatening situation," he mused.

They turned from the residential street they were on into an open branch of the city. Skyscrapers rose around them as giants, blocking out the pinkening sky. The city was slowly coming to life around them. Business was to be cast aside, and it was time for fun (which obviously meant different things to different people). People of all ages clad in vibrant clothing began milling around and about them, laughing and being jubilant, going on their way to their various destinations.

Kadota sighed. "It's not that it's sexist, Shinra. The implication isn't that one girl couldn't take on three guys, it's that one person can't take on three."

"But doesn't it make more sense that it's the way I said it? People are so concerned with protecting women from rape and violence, but not as much for men. It's not exactly right to assume it's completely safe for one man to go off with three women. It's just more common."

"Okay, back up. Are you saying you think women can rape men?"

"Are you saying you don't?"

"I hate to be the one to tell you this Shinra, but women don't have penises."

"A penis is not required for rape, Kadota," Shinra explained with a slightly sardonic tone.

"Oh really? Why don't you tell me how it works then?"

"Well I'm sure there are plenty of different ways, but I'd assume she'd just tie him down and…mount him."

"That—"

"If you two don't shut up we're going to get arrested," Shizuo muttered to his friends. They hadn't really bothered to lower their voices, and it felt as if every time they uttered the word "rape", it was through a megaphone. People were staring after them as they passed.

"But I have to fix Kadota's ignorance," Shinra complained.

"_My_ ignorance?"

The blonde exhaled roughly. "Shinra's right. We're all equal. Women can rape too. Happy?"

"Yessssss," hissed the bespectacled teen, bringing his fists in front of him and punching the air in triumph.

Although he wasn't exactly eager to discuss the next subject that came to mind, it at least didn't involve illegal activities. "So how are you guys expecting this to work anyway? I told you I'm not interested in anyone."

"Well," Shinra began, "I figured since you won't admit to liking that girl you're always talking to online, we might as well try to take your mind off of her."

Shizuo's brows drew together. "When I said I wasn't interested in anybody I meant I wasn't interested in dating."

Kadota swung his arm up and around Shizuo's shoulders. "It's not good to obsess, Shizuo. And maybe you'll meet a girl you really like today."

"I doubt it." He had tried to convince them that they should go on a school day, but Shinra protested that they had homework to do. Kadota thought it was strange that he insisted, and started questioning him, so he let it go. Truthfully he had wanted to be able to spot the girls in their uniforms, because then he would be able to tell if they were from Raira. As for what came next…well…he had this naïve feeling that as soon as he saw her, he'd know her. She'd turn her head, sensing his eyes, and the sunlight would catch hers and they would sparkle.

Something like that.

They walked into a big, open, park-like area. Gray stones fit into each other to create great swirling patterns on the ground that crashed like waves against the edge of a large fountain. Giving the fountain a wide berth were planters filled with healthy trees, bushes, and gazebos. People filtered through, in singles, couples, and small groups. It was the perfect place.

"Look," suggested Kadota, flicking a finger towards a group of three girls huddled on a bench near the fountain. "Just be cool, guys." He led them over nonchalantly, hands in his pockets. The girls looked up curiously from their phones and stopped chatting with each other.

Shizuo inspected them sullenly. Two of them looked related; they had the same straight brown hair, although the taller one wore hers just below her ears while the shorter wore it down to her elbows. Their friend had bleached red hair and bangs held in a ponytail. She wore a long black dress with a shocking green coat and flat shoes. The long-haired sister wore blue pants and a shirt speckled with geometric shapes, and the short-haired sister had on a faux black leather skirt with a white blouse.

Kadota smoothed one of his hands through his hair, turning on the charm. "Hello ladies."

"Hi," they chorused. Then they turned to each other and giggled.

"I'm Kadota. These are my friends Shinra and Shizuo."

The long-haired sister, apparently the leader of the girls' group as much as Kadota was the boys', stood up. The other two followed suit. "This is my sister Mei and our friend Kiki. I'm Ayame. Nice to meet you." Mei tugged on Ayame's sleeve and whispered something in her ear. The girl smiled.

"What's the secret?" Kadota asked smoothly.

"I don't know, we just met you guys…" she replied, feigning indecision.

"Come on, I promise we're good guys. Well, maybe not Shinra. He's a bit devious."

"Hey!"

The three girls giggled again. "Okay," Ayame said, "Mei suggested that we invite you guys to come to Ero-Iro with us."

Shinra caught Shizuo's eye discreetly and communicated that something was wrong with this picture. Shizuo, however, didn't see what could be done about it without being rude, and he was feeling a bit reckless. Maybe he just wanted to get in trouble so they would never attempt something like this again. "We'd love to," he spoke up. He offered his arm to Kiki, who smiled and took it. Ayame waited for Kadota shrug off the blonde's sudden departure from reticence and lead the way. Shinra and Mei hung back.

Shizuo put his free hand back in his pocket just in time to feel his phone buzz against his fingers. Shinra had started a chat between him and Kadota.

_Shinra: you have to be 18 to get into eroiro! and it's well known that people hook up there all the time!_

"So do you three all go to the same school?" Shizuo asked the girl.

"Yeah, we go to Eikin. It's a girls' school. What about you?"

His phone buzzed again and he discreetly peeked down at it.

_Kadota: so what? we can all pass for 18. and its not like we have to do anything with them._

"Oh, I've heard of that place. We go to Raira. It's okay."

_Shizuo: stop worrying shinra_

_Kadota: shizuos right…just go with the flow_

_Shinra: peer pressure! peer pressure! if we get in trouble im blaming you guys!_

_Shizuo: whatever_

_Kadota: fine_

He snapped the phone shut and slipped it into his pocket, turning to face the curious girl. "Sorry about that, my little bro was asking me where I was. He's kind of clingy," he lied.

The girl bought it and leaned her head against his shoulder. "That's sooo sweet!"

Just like he had thought. She was an idiot. Not only did she not see through his lie, she found it endearing. Her hair was making an annoying sound as it chafed against the fabric of his black shirt. It was probably dry from the dye, which it was positively drenched in. He thought of Orio369 and how she said she knew she was pretty. Her hair was probably smooth like silk, would slide across anything it touched like water. Her nails, unlike this girls', were probably not fake pink claws. They were probably nicely trimmed, cute little squares or ovals. And he _knew_ her eyes would be free of the thick green shade his new companion wore.

Something on the edge of his vision caught his eye and he turned his head, stopping abruptly and causing the jabbering Shinra to crash into him.

"Are you okay?" Mei fretted.

"Yeah…Why'd you stop, Shizuo?"

His chocolate eyes scanned the crowds of people, trying to recapture whatever it was he had seen, but it was gone. "Thought I saw something," he muttered.

**xXxXx**

The inside of the club was a darkness that flashed blue and purple. Harsh white light lit the bar to their right, and dozens of circular tables were placed in stands above a glowing white dance floor crowded with people. Ayame pulled Kadota over to one of the tables and sat him down, then dashed off to the bar as Mei, Kiki, Shinra, and Shizuo caught up.

"We're not going to be drinking alcohol, are we?" Shinra asked nervously.

Mei smiled, her eyes big and doe-like. "Not if you don't want to."

The aspiring doctor cleared his throat. "Well."

"Do you want to dance?" Kiki asked. Shizuo blinked against the harsh light, but it didn't work very well. The strobe lights blinked with him, and he was getting a head ache. He put his hand up to his forehead to shield them for a minute and looked at the table. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure." He was distracted enough that it didn't even bother him that people seemed to be constantly asking him that today. Unfortunately she took his response to mean 'Sure' to the dancing suggestion and towed him into the vast throng of people. She wouldn't be satisfied by dancing on the fringe of the cloud, no; she had to be in the middle. Shizuo was bumped and stepped on and sworn at, and he still couldn't see very well because of the damn strobe lights. It was like he was continuously blinking; every second everything around him had shifted.

Kiki reached a spot she was happy with and started dancing. Again the lights made it so that she was in a different position every second. His eyes protested as they were denied the basic scene of flowing movement. Not to mention the music was pounding in on him from every angle now, impossibly louder now that they were near the stage. Shizuo was starting to feel claustrophobic. All around him people were jostling him, and he wondered how they managed to flail about without falling down. Someone took a wild step back; problematically, Shizuo was standing in the space the man had stepped into, and was knocked into a space in the crowd onto the floor.

The girl shrieked and people around turned to see what had happened, which meant that thankfully the blonde was not trampled to death. She awkwardly managed to stand over him and helped pull him back up, although he stumbled and almost fell again. "You don't look very good!" Kiki shouted to him.

He nodded and said, "Just let me go to the bathroom for a minute." He made his way over to the corner that looked like it would lead the way to the bathroom. When he opened the door, the sound and light of the club was immediately muted to a tolerable level, and he was in a small room with a lamp giving off purple light from the ceiling. Shizuo crossed that room to the door at the opposite end, which was bearing the sign "Men". Once inside, he darted over to the sink and turned on the tap, splashing water in his eyes and gripping the edge of the sink.

What was he doing here?

Shinra and Kadota had dragged him out girl hunting, of course, but once the girls mentioned the club, Shinra gave him a warning sign. He would have been able to duck out at that point. He could be comfortable at home in his desk chair, talking about something random like what a rutabaga smoothie was like with Orio369. It wasn't as if he was repulsed by the girl, she just lacked something. He hadn't been able to really carry on a conversation after asking her what school she was from. Which should have been surprising, considering they had the whole topic of what each others' school was like to discuss, which could have taken up at least a few minutes. But he didn't _want_ to talk about her school or his school. He wanted to talk about something new and unusual. He wanted to talk to his best friend.

The blonde gulped, feeling a little guilty about naming someone who was technically a stranger as his best friend. But that was how he felt. He thought he had a stronger connection with this girl he had only known a few months than with Shinra, whom he had known since elementary school, or Kadota, whom he had known since middle school.

Shizuo shook his head to clear his thoughts. Then he decided he should get out of the bathroom before anyone came in and started asking him what he was doing, because he wasn't sure he could answer if they did.

"Hello," someone purred as soon as he walked out of the bathroom door and into the empty black room. He whirled around and came face-to-face with Izaya's flickblade. The raven-haired youth bent his arm and stepped forward so he was closer to the suddenly furious teen, who gritted his teeth.

"Why are you here?" Shizuo demanded.

"I didn't have you pegged as a partier, Shizu-chan. I thought that was always my scene." He wiggled his hips as if that would prove his superior party tendencies.

"Bite me."

Obviously Shizuo hadn't been expecting that Izaya would do just that. The other's knife pressed against his throat, face nuzzling into the other side—and chomping down on Shizuo's flesh. Forgetting about the blade's presence in the same second, the blonde jerked into it, causing beads of red to erupt from his flesh and drip down the skin of his neck.

Izaya giggled and lifted his head so his mouth was next to the blonde's ear. "Hey, Shizu-chan, open your mouth."

"_No_," Shizuo spat back, brimming with rage. The blood track had made its way to his shirt collar.

Izaya was unperturbed. He dragged his soft lips lightly over the skin of Shizuo's neck and bit at his earlobe, hand fastened tightly on the blade that kept his victim docile. Shizuo was already starting to feel a little woozy as an instinctual lust shot through him, but the pain left him no choice but to lean away from the blade and into Izaya's ministrations.

His fists clenched suddenly and he got, if possible, tenser when Izaya worked one of his legs in between Shizuo's, massaging his crotch gently. "What the fuck are you doing, flea?" he gasped. Izaya clucked disapprovingly and faced Shizuo, eyelashes lowered in a sinister manner. He pressed his lips to the blonde's, petting them with the tip of his tongue while working over his groin with his knee. When he opened his mouth to protest once more, Izaya slipped his tongue inside and slicked it against Shizuo's.

Shizuo no longer cared about the possibility of brutally injuring himself, he would not sacrifice any more of his pride. He jerked his head back and pushed Izaya away, the knife sliding against his throat and creating a long, deep wound. When the attacker was sufficiently far away from him, and was temporarily out of commission at ground level, the blonde clamped a hand over his bleeding neck.

"You have three seconds to _run the fuck away_," Shizuo managed to bite out, color draining from his face and rising to it at the same rate.

Izaya hopped to his feet gracefully. He lapped the crimson streaks from his blade with a seductive wink, and quickly unlocked and darted out the second door and away from the distressed teen in an instant. Shizuo took in a ragged breath, feeling the blood coursing out of his wound and into his hand. He dashed back to the bathroom and pulled a wad of paper towels from the dispenser, substituting them instead. He rinsed the sticky, semi-dried blood off and stomped out of the building, telling the bouncer as he passed: "Your security fucking sucks."

**Author's Nonsense:**

BLAME THE CREEPY PERVY NAME OF THE CLUB ON ACORNWARRIOR. Yanno. If you get it.

I hope you were happy with the wee bit of gay. It will be explained later if it didn't make sense or anything.

In other news, I just got sick! Literally I became sick at about 3 today. Ain't life grand? But I love you all for giving me wonderful feedback. I literally just sit there and smile every time I see a review.

It actually looks pretty dorky.

Now just imagine me grinning like an idiot reading reviews with snot dripping out my nose, and you'll have me for the next few days. Good times.


	4. Chapter 4

**xXxXx Chapter 4 xXxXx**

There was a tapping at the door.

"Shizuo?"

Silence.

Tap, tap, tap.

"Shizuo, are you asleep?"

Tap, tap, tap.

"…Shizuo?"

"Yes, Kasuka, I am asleep. This is why I'm not answering the door. Leave a message." The younger of the Heiwajima spawn opened the door to his brother's room anyway.

"Mom wants to know where you were last night. Shinra called like eight times."

Shizuo groaned in response. Kasuka walked up to him.

"What's this?" He touched the large white bandage marred by a stripe of brown that showed through on Shizuo's neck and Shizuo jerked up into a sitting position.

"Jesus!" the blonde swore. Fresh red droplets dotted through the fabric of the gauze, the feeble scab having been torn when Shizuo had moved.

"Did you get bit by a vampire or something?"

"No comment."

"Izaya then?"

Shizuo sighed and looked into his brother's eyes. "What do you want, Kasuka?"

Kasuka stared back, his face emotionless as always. "You must really like him if you haven't hospitalized him yet." And he left.

**xXxXx**

_Orio369: So, how's Izaya?_

He knew he'd have to tell her.

_Tsuyoiboi: excellent, considering I didn't see him today._

_Orio369: Hahaha._

_Orio369: Did he do anything in particular this time?_

_Tsuyoiboi: i dont want to tell you_

_Orio369: We've been over this before…just get it over with._

So much for putting it off as long as he could. Shizuo growled and restrained himself from clamping his fists on the sides of his monitor under the pretense of shaking it in frustration, knowing if he did it would be instantly destroyed.

_Tsuyoiboi: i fucking hate you, you know that? if i didnt know you were just going to pester me until i told you i wouldn't_

_Tsuyoiboi: …_

_Tsuyoiboi: he kissed me_

_Orio369: He _kissed _you?_

You should not have told her, you should not have told her, you should NOT HAVE TOLD HER!

Shizuo's face burned with embarrassment.

_Tsuyoiboi: he had a fucking knife! the guy is batshit insane!_

_Orio369: Sounds like it! :o_

_Orio369: …So_

_Tsuyoiboi: ….so what_

Dreading the answer.

_Orio369: Well, how was it? Was he a good kisser? I bet he was c: _

_Tsuyoiboi: sick freak, I am NOT gay!_

_Orio369: God, boys are so TOUCHY. You don't have to be gay to enjoy a kiss._

_Orio369: Ooh or maybe you are and you're just trying to cover it up by acting manly!_

_Tsuyoiboi: SHUT UP I WILL HURT YOU_

Shizuo fumed. _Stupid bitch, can't you tell I like _you_?_ he thought with frustration.

Whoa. Blood rushed to his face and he felt his jaw clench involuntarily. In fact, his whole body was now tense, as if he had just made the confession to a stadium full of people. He looked back at the screen, having dropped his gaze to his keyboard when the weight of his private realization had hit him. Orio369 had not, to his surprise, given any indication that she had realized what he was thinking. She was still taunting him about the kiss with Izaya, but appeared oblivious to anything relating to her. Strange, seeing as Shizuo could have sworn based on how embarrassed he felt that they had briefly shared a telekinetic link, and he had beamed that thought loud enough into her head to knock her out of her chair.

He continued his silence, panicking, not knowing how to react now that he had admitted his crush as fact. It would probably show in his words if he were to say anything; he didn't trust his fingers or his throbbing mind right now. The best thing to do would be to sign off, saying his parents had called him to do something. He could probably manage that much.

Shizuo swallowed hard. The messages had stopped coming. He typed in the message.

_hey i have to go. parents. sorry._

His finger hovered over the enter key, but suddenly the little bar proclaiming that 'Orio369 is typing…" appeared, followed by a message.

_Orio369: I hope you don't mind me asking, but have you ever considered a kind of...peace treaty?_

The question confused him.

_Tsuyoiboi: with Izaya?_

_Orio369: No, with Genghis Khan._

_Orio369: Yes, with Izaya!_

_Orio369: I only ask because it seems like it really bothers you to have to be fighting all the time. Since you don't like violence and all._

He considered this. He never knew what had sparked his initial hatred of Izaya, he just knew how he felt. Of course right now he was more confused about liking his current conversational partner, and it dulled his feelings of hatred for Izaya.

_Tsuyoiboi: …_

_Orio369: Okay, forget I said anything, I get it._

_Tsuyoiboi: i might consider it if he wasnt such an asshole._

_Tsuyoiboi: and if he begged for my forgiveness_

_Orio369: Ohh? You don't suppose you might have some apologizing to do yourself?_

_Tsuyoiboi: ….no_

_Orio369: Okay then!_

Shizuo put his hands behind his blonde head and spun his chair around a full 360 degrees. A peace treaty with Izaya...The thought of it was very strange. He tried to imagine seeing Izaya and _not _immediately picking up the nearest heavy object to throw at him. He imagined seeing Izaya and waving at him, acknowledging him as another human being. He shivered. Weird.

Glancing back at the monitor, he saw Orio369 still hadn't sparked a new topic of conversation. That was unusual.

_Tsuyoiboi: you okay? I think that's the longest youve ever been quiet before._

_Orio369: …You know how most kids want to run away? Because they hate their family, their life? I don't._

He had no idea how to respond to that. Why choose now of all times to be deep?

_Orio369: I never could. I love Ikebukuro._ _I love the smells, the sounds. I love watching the reflection of the sunrise in the skyscrapers. It makes me think of the future. Future and nature, together. Anything's possible. And the people. Some of them I love, some of them I hate. Sometimes I love and hate them at the same time._

_Tsuyoiboi: …you talking about a boy or something?_

_Please say no, please say no, please say no,_ he thought.

_Orio369: Haha, no, I'm just being silly and sentimental. I should probably go to bed now before I embarrass myself further._

As much as he wanted her to stay, he recognized he probably wasn't in the best state of mind right now himself. He was still…well…_bubbly_…from his realization. So he let her go.

_Tsuyoiboi: Goodnight_

_Orio369: Goodnight._

**xXxXx**

Izaya was looking forward to today's conversation more than others. He was sure that Shizuo, despite his wounded pride, would relate his kiss with his enemy to his love.

It was a bit surprising how much Izaya looked forward to their conversations in general. Sure, Shizuo's grammar was terrible to the point of making his eyes water, but they had a lot in common, Izaya had noticed. Shizuo could actually be kind of relaxing to talk to after a day of being surrounded by the morons that went to his school, seeing as Shizuo didn't say much himself. He'd occasionally rant about Shinra or Kadota or another of his semi-annoying friends, but other than that, he talked about normal hobbies and things he liked. Izaya found it…endearing.

Of course, he still acted like a dumb guy, being mean to Izaya, whose internet personality he was so OBVIOUSLY falling for. Shizuo was so easy to read. The plan was working perfectly. All Izaya had to do was be his charming self.

Last night had gone better than expected, to top it off. He hadn't been planning to pull that card for a long time, but then there was that dumb saying about desperate times and desperate measures. Not that he ever got desperate. Everything was completely in control. He'd tamed the wild beast with his knife and had even gotten a hint of a response to the kiss as an extra bonus! Not only had that rattled Shizuo enough to get him away from the potential female threats, but it would cause him extra anguish as he considered his own sexuality.

Hmm…wait a minute.

It would be bad if Shizuo fell for the real him instead. He'd have to diffuse the situation in today's little chat.

_Orio369: So, how's Izaya?_

_Tsuyoiboi: excellent, considering I didn't see him today._

_Orio369: Hahaha._

_Orio369: Did he do anything in particular this time?_

That could be a bit obvious to someone else, but this was Shizuo. Izaya figured he was safe.

_Tsuyoiboi: i dont want to tell you_

_Orio369: We've been over this before…just get it over with._

_Tsuyoiboi: i fucking hate you, you know that? if i didnt know you were just going to pester me until i told you i wouldnt_

_Tsuyoiboi: he kissed me_

_Orio369: He _kissed _you?_

_Tsuyoiboi: he had a fucking knife! the guy is batshit insane!_

_Orio369: Sounds like it! :o_

_Orio369: …So_

_Tsuyoiboi: ….so what_

_Orio369: Well, how was it? Was he a good kisser? I bet he was c: _

_Tsuyoiboi: sick freak, I am NOT gay!_

_Orio369: God, boys are so TOUCHY. You don't have to be gay to enjoy a kiss._

_Orio369: Ooh or maybe you are and you're just trying to cover it up by acting manly!_

_Tsuyoiboi: SHUT UP I WILL HURT YOU_

He certainly would if he knew, but it didn't stop Izaya from sending a few more taunts in Shizuo's direction. He paused for a moment to smile and looked down at his hands, slender with long, pale fingers. Then he imagined Shizuo, his hands much larger, much rougher, wrapped around his own. Snapping his fingers back with sickening cracks.

He winced.

_Orio369: I hope you don't mind me asking, but have you ever considered a kind of...peace treaty?_

_Tsuyoiboi: with Izaya?_

_Orio369: No, with Genghis Khan._

_Orio369: Yes, with Izaya!_

_Orio369: I only ask because it seems like it really bothers you to have to be fighting all the time. Since you don't like violence and all._

_Tsuyoiboi: …_

_Orio369: Okay, forget I said anything, I get it._

_Tsuyoiboi: i might consider it if he wasnt such an asshole._

_Tsuyoiboi: and if he begged for my forgiveness_

Izaya smiled. Typical Shizuo.

_Orio369: Ohh? You don't suppose you might have some apologizing to do yourself?_

_Tsuyoiboi: ….no_

_Orio369: Okay then!_

He was silent then, thinking. Shizuo would actually consider making peace with him? Izaya imagined walking down the hall at school and _not _having to duck behind the nearest open locker door to avoid having a water fountain hurled at him. He thought of seeing him on the sidewalk and _not_ hearing his name shouted loud enough to be heard in some obscure place like…Canada.

One day, if he ever wanted to have any kind of job, he'd have to escape Shizuo's wrath. He couldn't run any kind of business (oh, forget working for one; he already knew he was far above that) with the man barging in every other day threatening to kill him because of every bad thing that happened in his life. Of course, to be fair, many of the bad things that happened to Shizuo now _were _Izaya's fault.

But if he stopped torturing the other teen, what would he do for fun?

He didn't realize how long it had been until a new message flashed up on the screen.

_Tsuyoiboi: you okay? I think that's the longest youve ever been quiet before._

_Orio369: …You know how most kids want to run away? Because they hate their family, their life? I don't._

Izaya waited but there was no reply, nor any indication of one, so he went on.

_Orio369: I never could. I love Ikebukuro._ _I love the smells, the sounds. I love watching the reflection of the sunrise in the skyscrapers. It makes me think of the future. Future and nature, together. Anything's possible. And the people. Some of them I love, some of them I hate. Sometimes I love and hate them at the same time._

_Tsuyoiboi: …you talking about a boy or something?_

Izaya smiled softly to himself. He imagined Shizuo staring at the screen, heart racing, desperate for his question to be denied. The dark-haired teen decided to be uncharacteristically kind.

_Orio369: Haha, no, I'm just being silly and sentimental. I should probably go to bed now before I embarrass myself further._

_Tsuyoiboi: Goodnight._

_Orio369: Goodnight._

He signed off and pushed the edge of his desk with his foot, setting the chair on a slow journey around its axis. When it stopped, he got up and stumbled to his bed, slightly dizzy, and collapsed on it. Staring at the ceiling, he thought of the kiss. Shizuo's warm lips against his own, the salty-sweet taste of his tongue, his strong body pressed up against his own. Izaya had been watching him through the entire event, and he had noticed Shizuo's eyelids begin to flutter closed as he enjoyed the warm contact.

But of course, for those few brief seconds, he had probably been imagining his beloved Orio369 in Izaya's place. Which was, of course, very ironic. He chuckled, but quickly grew silent. The humor froze in the cool air and broke into little pieces. For some reason he felt that this was not the time to be laughing.

A peace treaty…Why was he thinking so hard about this? Why had it occurred to him now? Could it be…did he actually _want_ to stop fighting with Shizuo? No, no, he couldn't. Shizuo was his greatest joy, the source of all things entertaining in his life. Their physical battles were exhilarating, even more so recently; perhaps Shizuo was channeling his unrequited love-passion into hate-passion. Whatever it was, Izaya had to work harder to get away from him, and that was incredibly exhilarating.

As far as mental battles went, well, that had never been Shizuo's forte. But as a subject he was so interesting to study. When Izaya had learned that he hated violence (something that Shizuo had never seen fit to share with his enemy, for whatever reason), it had become even more intriguing. Why would someone so averse to violence fill so much of his life with it? It was like Izaya was his obsession, and when it came to him, he couldn't control himself.

But…

His hand went slowly to his lips again and his mind went back to the kiss.

_Obsession_.

But if that was what Shizuo had for Izaya, what did Izaya have for Shizuo? What was a level higher than obsession? Or two levels even? He'd been obsessed with things before, obsessed with destroying people from the inside out. He liked to play with people and to see how they would fall into the traps he set for them. It was a challenge to see how well he could understand human behavior. Shizuo was the same case, was he not? Izaya would admit an obsession with him, a need to control him, to own him, to dominate him completely. So why did this feel more intense? Or…maybe not more _intense_, but different. More basic, maybe. Natural even? But Izaya was not a natural human. He viewed them as creatures apart from himself; he loved them for their complexity. Was this hunger for Shizuo a human quality—

Wait.

Love.

He said it out loud. "Love." It had a strange texture, made him bite at his lip. He felt a little buzz go through him, stopping again at the point where they had kissed. The spot felt numb now. Perhaps he was thinking about it too much. He'd heard about love. It felt childish to phrase it that way in his mind, but as he had never experienced it, it was only a rumor in his mind. Some people called it the strongest emotion. He used to think those were the weak people, ones that let themselves be destroyed for their feelings for others. After all, if nothing mattered to you, you could never be hurt. That was how Izaya had resolved to live his life. To give in to love would be to fall into one of the traps he so frequently set for other beings.

But Shizuo mattered to him. He didn't want anyone else _killing_ him. That would ruin everything. And he didn't want other people instigating their plans on him (not that he knew of anyone who could; none of his classmates had the smarts or the deviousness required to do what Izaya did). These things were unacceptable. Shizuo was _his_ prey. His. Izaya Orihara's.

So of course, if Izaya had any urge to hold him, it would be as a possession. Or as a prisoner.

If he had any desire to kiss him, it would be as before—so he could mess him up or protect him from outsiders.

And if the whim ever struck him to fuck Shizuo…it would be to fuck him up so he was completely broken. That was what this plan was for.

Right?

**Author's Nonsense:**

Sorry for the late-ish update. I was fighting with my beta and now I'm giving up because I suck and I'm not going to edit anymore even though I probably should. You'll all probably think it's fine but it'll bug me for the rest of foreverrrrrrr.

I'm going to use the excuse that this is the first multi-chapter I've written by myself so of course I'm going to improve with more practice and blah blah blah.

I'm still kind of sick, but I'm not like "OMG PLEASE KILL ME COFF COFF HACK" like I was last week. Thank you guys :)

Aaaaaaand I dunno what else to say. See you next Friday!


	5. Chapter 5

**xXxXx Chapter 5 xXxXx**

_Orio369: Hey._

_Tsuyoiboi: hey_

_Orio369: What's up?_

This was kind of weird. Usually she started the conversation, knowing if it was left to him it would go pretty much nowhere. Shizuo could sense something off immediately.

_Tsuyoiboi: nothing…is something wrong?_

_Orio369: What? No._

_Tsuyoiboi: your not rambling about random useless shit like you usually are_

_Orio369: I guess I'm not. I've been thinking about something._

Very ominous.

_Tsuyoiboi: what_

_Orio369: It's kind of embarrassing._

_Tsuyoiboi: ive told you plenty of embarrasing shit. give it up_

_Orio369: Okayyyy. I'm trying to figure out how you know…_

_Orio369: …if you like someone._

No.

Shizuo's head felt light and his vision started to shift, rotating like he was falling. He couldn't tell if he was or not. He couldn't summon any energy to type anything, or to even think of anything to type. His throat was dry, his heart was thudding dully and painfully against his chest. All this, and she kept going on, completely oblivious to what she had done.

_Orio369: I met this boy a couple of months ago…_

_Orio369: He's really sweet even though he doesn't act like it all the time._

_Orio369: Actually we fight a lot._

_Orio369: I don't know that much about him…but every time I'm around him my heart starts going like crazy and I feel kind of giddy._

_Orio369: I get jealous of other people that get to talk to him a lot._

_Stop_, Shizuo thought, _Please, you don't know what you're __doing to me._

_Orio369: I don't think he even knows who I am._

_Orio369: And it kills me._

_Orio369: I want him to know me._

_Orio369: The real me._

Desperation flooded him, one last thread of hope.

_Tsuyoiboi: I want to meet you_

_Orio369: Can I ask you something?_

Shizuo froze, heart on a mad rampage. Both messages had popped up in the little window at the same time. The little bar proclaiming "Orio369 is typing…" disappeared. It stayed gone for a full minute as the statuesque Shizuo stared in horror at the screen. He had actually said it. And she had been going to ask him something. She had been opening her heart to him and had been going to ask him a crucial question. And now she'd probably freak out and he'd never know what it was. Oh god, what had he done?

_Orio369: Wow…you're psychic._

What.

_Orio369: I was just going to ask you if you would meet me. _

_Orio369: Because I've been thinking about it for a while and I know I shouldn't trust you because you're just some person I met on the internet but…I _do_ trust you and I think you're a cool person and…_

_Orio369: Well…There's something I want to tell you. But I don't want to do it here._

Presumably his hands had gone numb because they were no longer getting oxygen, as he had been neglecting the necessity of breathing. Thus, it took him a little longer and a lot of difficulty to type a reply.

_Tsuyoiboi: what about that boy you were talking about_

_Orio369: That's what I have to talk to you about._

Could it be…? No, he couldn't allow himself to think that. There was no way she was talking about him. She wanted to confide in him her secret love…for someone else.

But…

If he could just _see _her! Maybe if they met—_really_ met…maybe she'd change her mind.

He had to try.

_Tsuyoiboi: When? Where?_

_Orio369: By the train station? 8 o' clock? I'll be wearing a green sweatshirt._

_Tsuyoiboi: Okay._

**xXxXx**

Shizuo stared at the clock mounted on the wall of the train station. And stared. And stared. In three…two…one…Yes, she was now officially late. The minute encompassing 8:00 had come and gone, and there were only about four other people lurking around the train station besides Shizuo, none of them being the right age. He got up and started pacing, quickly, as if his accelerated pace would make time jealous, and time would therefore speed up, bringing Orio369's arrival. He looked at the clock again. Impossibly, only 20 seconds had passed. With a roar of anger, he picked up the nearest object, which happened to be a trashcan, and hurled it full force at the offending timepiece.

The sound ricocheted off the tile walls and floor. The other people stared at him. A middle aged woman gave him a reproachful look and moved to a seat that was farther away. As the echoes of the crash died down, they were replaced by a crescendo of footsteps. "My my," said a voice, "What ever happened to 'I don't like violence,' Shizu-chan?"

Shizuo, who had been panting in the hunched follow through position of his assault, turned his head slowly.

Izaya.

"What…are _you_…doing here…flea?" he bit out through clenched teeth, slowly rising to his full height.

"You didn't catch my hint…" Some of the hard glint in his crimson eyes melted away, and his grin sagged a little. He put his hands in the pockets of his green sweatshirt and walked over to where the tile met the concrete of the sidewalk staring up at the dark sky. "It looks like rain," he muttered.

A second trashcan flew through the air, and Izaya barely ducked out of the way in time. As it was, he lost his balance and hit the hard ground, which was littered with sharp ridges of concrete. He propped his upper body up with a shaking arm, touching a slender finger to his cheek and seeing it filmed over with blood and gravel. The solution became dilute and dripped down into his palm as it was hit by a drop of water.

His hand was wrenched away from him and thrust onto the ground, which was quickly becoming speckled with fat little raindrops. None of these hit Izaya, as a body quickly appeared over him to match the captivator of his arms. Shizuo's chest heaved as he tried to restrain himself from beating the boy into a bloody mess.

_Why can't I just have this one thing without Izaya ruining it for me?_ Shizuo thought bitterly, clenching his jaw in anger. The rain was matting his hair together, and beads of water dripped down the darkened strands to land on Izaya's face like tears. "I'm going to ask you one more time. What are you doing here?" His chocolate brown eyes drilled into deep pools of scarlet.

The black-haired boy stared back at him, not knowing what to say. Maybe throwing out his old plan because of his new confusing feelings had been a bad idea. He couldn't see the outcome of this game. The pieces were hidden from his view, and he was playing blind. How had he expected this to go anyway? Shizuo would immediately understand, and would forgive him for years of torture, of pain, of pure hatred? Ridiculous!

He should just get out while he still could. Shizuo was obviously the stupidest person in the world, not picking up on all the hints: his green sweatshirt, the fact that he knew about Shizuo hating violence, their _entire conversation _before they had agreed to meet. Why didn't this capacity for oversight repulse him?

Maybe because of all the times he'd smiled and laughed during their online chats. The way every time he saw Shizuo, his heart beat harder, and not out of fear that the blonde would discover him. And if he were Shizuo, wouldn't he find it hard to believe as well? Hadn't he led him into believing there was no hope? Did he even deserve forgiveness?

Did he even want it?

A drop of water fell close to his eye and he flinched away. The rain was picking up. It soaked through Shizuo's gray shirt, turning it dark and adding cold to anger for his reasons for shivering. Izaya maintained his silence as beads dropped from Shizuo's soaking blonde locks, some of which were plastered to his cheeks and forehead.

It was infuriating. Izaya would usually ramble on for ages, say forty words for each of Shizuo's. But now he was just wasting time with his reticence. The blonde clenched bit down on his teeth so hard that his jaw started to ache, and looked away from the hated being. Wrong, everything was all wrong. She hadn't showed up. Izaya had. His love and his enemy had each done what he least wanted them to.

Yes…he supposed he had loved her.

Anger surged up through his chest. He jerked himself up into a sitting position, allowing a torrent of rain to fill the space that had been between their bodies. Shizuo drew his hand back threateningly. Rain had diluted the cut on Izaya's face into a pink stream running down his cheek, and he looked up at the blonde with cold, scorned eyes. "Answer me," Shizuo commanded.

"You're wondering why she didn't show up, aren't you? You think she lied."

Fingers tightened impossibly, the arm snapped forward. Izaya took the punch silently.

"What do you know?" Shizuo yelled, half accusatory, half hypothetical.

"Everything," the other whispered back.

Another blow.

And another.

He was jerked up by the collar; their faces were pressed close, meeting at the forehead and nose. Shizuo's eyes stony, the color of dead leaves. "What did you do to her?"

Izaya was unsure of his own motives, his body as numb as his dully thudding heart. "She's dead," he hissed.

He was thrown down against the concrete, his skull making a sickening cracking sound on contact, though as far as he could tell no damage was done besides a nasty bruise. Warmth and pressure were gone, Shizuo's legs no longer pressed against his. Instead they carried him away, a wounded soldier into a gray background. The other teen lifted himself into a hunched position.

Last chance.

"You know how most kids want to run away? Because they hate their family, their life? I don't."

Shizuo stopped, thirty feet away. Rain echoed in their ears. Izaya continued: "I never could. I love Ikebukuro. I love the smells, the sounds. I love watching the reflection of the sunrise in the skyscrapers. It makes me think of the future. Future and nature, together. Anything's possible. And the people. Some of them I love, some of them I hate. Sometimes I love and hate them at the same time."

Seconds passed as months, as years. Years of numbness, painful recovery, forgiveness. Shizuo's voice cracked, barely audible above the sounds of the water crashing from the sky, "You talking about a boy?"

Izaya chuckled sadly. "Orio369…lied to you."

He started to turn his head, but stopped. "What are you talking about."

"Said 'no'. Meant 'yes'."

Silence.

"_I_…meant 'yes'. A boy…that I both love and hate."

An earth-shaking thump from Shizuo's heart froze the scene. He no longer felt the rain, the cold air, or anything for that matter. He willed himself to turn, to see the lying smirk, willed it for as long as an eternity. Finally succeeded, and yet failed. Izaya's face was broken, sopping with tears and blood and rain. His own contracted with emotion, making words hard. He shivered against the elements, against the pain, the cold, the loneliness.

"I…love to hate you. And hate to love you. But I do. I love you, Shizuo."

**Author's Nonsense:**

**GAY.** I fail.

Sorry this chapter's so short. I hope it doesn't suck. This is the first of two emo chapters by the way. I personally think the second one's kind of awesomer though.

I love you, my peeps :)


	6. Chapter 6

**xXxXx Chapter 6 xXxXx**

A month passed. Shizuo stayed home for a week after the incident, convinced his parents he was sick. For all he was feeling, he might as well have been. His chest ached constantly, and his limbs and head felt heavy. It took more energy than he had to get out of bed, so he didn't. He barely ate; his concerned brother brought him carefully prepared, appetizing meals, but he nibbled them at best. He chose instead to stare at the ceiling, replaying their conversations in his head. Wondering how he had missed it. Wondering how he had allowed himself to be fooled.

"No names, to make it more fun." Fun for her. Him. Fucking gender-confused faggot. He tried to laugh, but then was reminded that he had fallen for said faggot's tricks, and immediately sobered.

When he was forced to go back to school, Shinra and Kadota and everyone greeted him enthusiastically, completely ignorant of the pain he had suffered. He brushed passed them in the halls, stared out the windows in class, skipped out frequently to stare across the roof at a view of skyscrapers. The sun glazed their surfaces into bright light, blinding. He stared into it until he couldn't see anything but white. Almost crashed into Shinra coming down the stairs.

"Shizuo, what's wrong with you?" the baffled teen asked.

"Nothing," he muttered, blinking and continuing down with the help of the hand rail.

"B-bullshit."

Shizuo stopped briefly, surprised by his friend's first uttered swear. Then he brushed the momentous occasion away like a wisp of smoke and stepped around the corner.

He couldn't understand what had happened. Surely, Izaya's motives had been evil from the beginning. By chance they had met in the vastness of the internet. But after that Izaya had found out, and had twisted his own personality into something Shizuo would find appealing. The boy always seemed to know everything, after all. It figured that the creep had been watching Shizuo enough to get into his head.

He cursed his own weakness, his subconscious desire for something more. He hadn't realized how alone he had been until he had someone. Thought he had someone.

He punched a hole through the nearest wall in a sudden surge of anger. Ignored his bleeding knuckles. Drifted numbly through the rest of school.

Shizuo crashed down on his bed as soon as he got home. He was now failing almost every subject, having neglected to do his homework and make up work for the last month. His room was littered with the dirty clothes he had neglected to even shove into a corner. His computer gathered dust in the corner, now a hated object. He considered beating it into dust, but that would have required getting up.

He thought of the time Izaya had kissed him in the club. That had all been part of his plan, he supposed. To start up a conversation, to question Shizuo's sexuality, to convince him otherwise. So when he found out who the _real_ Orio369 was, he wouldn't care.

Fists clenched, splitting scabs and causing blood to leak from the creases his nails were making in his hands. Shizuo noticed his face had a little itch, and took about a minute to muster up the strength to scratch it. His fingers came back moist. He blinked, and this time felt the tears slide from his eyes.

The fact that he was crying only made Shizuo want to cry more, to wallow in his wounded ego. He'd fallen in love with a man, his mortal enemy, and hadn't even realized it. And now he was crying about it. What a fucking loser. He swallowed a hiccup that was rising in his throat and viciously scoured the moisture away from his face with his palms.

Staring at the ceiling again, Shizuo froze. He had loved Izaya.

On a sudden whim, the blonde jerked himself out of bed and into his desk chair. He scrubbed the dust into the corners of his screen as the logo faded in and out of sight, tapping his foot impatiently on the ground, eyes suddenly alert and darting back and forth between the clock and the computer. How many seconds had it been, how many would it take for the damn thing to turn on? Was it punishing him for weeks of misuse?

When his desktop finally appeared, he clicked hastily on the "My Documents" button. The mechanical beast struggled to comply with his command, and in his impatience he clicked the icon a dozen or so more times. When the machine finally caught up with his clicking, he was presented with about eight different windows to choose from.

The blonde sighed and forced himself to calm down. He closed the extraneous windows one at a time until he was left with a single panel, then he navigated to the AIM logs and opened Orio369's file. The scroll bar to the side was tinier than Shizuo could have imagined possible, compressed by the magnitude of the complete history of their conversations. He scrolled to a random point.

_Orio369: Do you listen to Lady Gaga?_

_Tsuyoiboi: FUCK NO_

_Orio369: Why not? I love her!_

_Tsuyoiboi: shes creepy as fuck_

_Orio369: I'm surprised you think that. Most guys think she's hot._

_Tsuyoiboi: not my style_

_Orio369: Let's_

_Orio369: have_

_Orio369: some_

_Orio369: fun_

_Tsuyoiboi: stop_

_Orio369: This_

_Orio369: beat_

_Tsuyoiboi: stop it now_

_Orio369: is_

_Orio369: sick_

_Tsuyoiboi: i will hunt you down_

_Orio369: I wanna_

_Orio369: take a ride_

_Tsuyoiboi: i will burn your family_

_Orio369: on your disco stick_

_Tsuyoiboi: SERIOUSLY CUT IT OUT_

_Orio369: Let's have some fun_

_Orio369: This beat is sick_

_Orio369: I wanna take a ride on your disco stick_

_Tsuyoiboi: AHHHHHHHHH_

_Orio369: I wanna kiss youuuuu_

_Check_, Shizuo thought bitterly. He scrolled down some more.

_Tsuyoiboi: i hate dressing up_

_Orio369: I love dressing up!_

_Tsuyoiboi: what a surprise that is_

_Orio369: You know, I can sense your sarcasm even in type._

_Tsuyoiboi: i know._

_Orio369: Dress fabric is so nice though!_

_Tsuyoiboi: i wouldnt know i dont wear dresses_

_Orio369: I meant dressy clothes. I don't wear dresses either. Always pants. I do like skirts though._

_Tsuyoiboi: why dont you wear them then_

_Orio369: Pressures of society._

It hadn't made sense at the time, but of course it was crystal clear now.

_Tsuyoiboi: i hate the shoes_

_Tsuyoiboi: i can never find ones that fit_

_Orio369: Feet too big or too small?_

_Tsuyoiboi: too big_

_Orio369: ;P Figures_

Pervert. More scrolling.

_Orio369: Your brother NEVER annoys you?_

_Tsuyoiboi: well one time i almost threw a fridge at him but somethin broke_

_Orio369: You picked up a FRIDGE?_

_Tsuyoiboi: i told you im really strong!_

_Orio369: It's just so hard to picture…Just like someone who isn't annoyed by their younger siblings. I hate my sisters._

_Tsuyoiboi: younger im assuming?_

_Orio369: Yep. And they're twins. One time they put a glass of milk in the back of my closet and I didn't find it until they locked me in it a couple of weeks later. It was a serious FML moment._

_Tsuyoiboi: thats disgusting_

_Orio369: This other time they pinned me down (between the two of them the little shits have a surprising amount of strength) and shoved a crayon up my nose, saying they wanted to color my brain. Gave me a nosebleed_

_Tsuyoiboi: lmao i bet you deserved it_

_Orio369: You're a real douche bag, you know that?_

_Tsuyoiboi: yeah i know ;)_

_Orio369: OMG YOU USED A SMILIE. I'M RUBBING OFF ON YOU._

_Tsuyoiboi: the fuck you arent_

_Orio369: YES I AM, YES I AM! WHEEEEEEEE!_

_Tsuyoiboi: shut up you useless moron_

_Orio369: YOU'RE TURNING INTO ME! SOON YOU WILL BE ONE OF MY MINIONS AND WE SHALL TAKE OVER THE WOOOOOOOORLD!_

_Tsuyoiboi: lol you are so freaking stupid_

_Orio369: I know you love me. I love you too ;P_

_Tsuyoiboi: i do not_

_Orio369: You do. Just admit it._

_Tsuyoiboi: i definitely think your a retard_

_Orio369: You loooooooooooove me._

There had been so many hints.

Shizuo's chest felt tight. He stumbled off his chair and moved back to his bed to stare at the ceiling some more. Izaya had said he loved him, but love was such a strange thing. He had platonic love for his family and his friends, and would hate to see them hurt, even though he did sometimes feel the urge to throw very heavy things at them. If they ever _were_ hurt by his hand or anyone else's he would fall apart. But then, he had fallen apart now. What did that mean? That he loved himself, and he was devastated to see himself so torn apart? Or was it the destruction of his love for Orio369? That sounded more likely.

What was it that separated platonic love from romantic love? Shizuo struggled to remember what his parents and friends always said about it, even what movies offered. There was the wanting to be with them, to share everything with them, to be a part of them.

There was trust.

His trust had been violated. He had been betrayed and used by the person he hated the most.

But Izaya had said he loved him.

But how could that ever be true? Izaya had always, _always_ hated him. If everything in his life ever went wrong, that was the one thing he knew would stay true. So that left only one conclusion. Izaya was still playing him. He was still playing his sick game. He had to be.

_ "I…love to hate you. And hate to love you. But I do. I love you, Shizuo."_

He remembered how he had turned away and left him, how he could feel the crimson eyes on his back as he walked, dripping silent tears. He had seemed so broken, and so vulnerable. Shizuo should have been happy that it had been his doing. So why wasn't he?

The blonde sighed quietly and turned on his side, facing the wall. The most obvious part of romantic love was the physical quality of it. He tried to conjure the image he had created for Orio369—_his_ Orio369—but he couldn't. Instead he just saw Izaya. Izaya laughing at him, Izaya running from him, Izaya slashing at him with his knife.

Izaya kissing him. Izaya's soft, wet tongue against his lips, against his own. The thrill of adrenaline and fear caused by Izaya's knife pressing against his skin.

He wondered if the dark-haired teen had known then. If he had known when he had pushed his leg between Shizuo's, when his fingers had curled into the blonde locks. Thinking about it was making him nearly relive the experience, making his heart race.

He slapped himself, hard. Izaya had used him for his own entertainment. It was not just Orio369 who had betrayed him, he realized. By transcending the realm of physical injury, by pressing into his emotions and his heat, Izaya had betrayed their unspoken pact as well.

And yet, somehow he had lost his hatred for Izaya. It was replaced with an aching numbness. Every thought that contained him dulled his senses and made his head hurt. He closed his eyes and more tears leaked from them. Part of him was missing. It wasn't just his newly found love, but his old driving hatred. They were gone, and they left a hole twice as big in his soul.

These thoughts scared him. He had never realized before how much of his life had centered around Izaya. He remembered thinking about Orio369 constantly during his fights, wanting to get them over with so he could go home and talk to her. Now she was gone. And he had nothing to fall back on, because the Izaya he had known was gone, and had been replaced with one that loved him. Maybe this was the cause of his underlying depression. The challenge and danger that had come with Izaya was gone. Love was a weakness. But then, Shizuo had the same weakness.

All his thoughts were coming back to the same thing: Izaya. For the first time he put him at the front of his mind. Izaya. He hadn't seen him this past month. He wondered where the boy had gone.

But why?

Why did he care where Izaya was right now? Why did he want to know what Izaya was doing, how he was doing? Was it just because he wanted to know Izaya was in as bad of a state as he was?

Something in his head whispered that no, it wasn't.

And that allowed the final, pivotal point to break free. The entire relationship had been based on their conversations, and nothing else. He turned his head and looked back over at his computer, remembering the things he had just read. He had told only one lie, and that was the easiest to see through, if Shizuo hadn't been so stupid. But his taunts and compliments and nonsense had all been real, had all been _Izaya_. He had _been_ Orio369.

And that meant Shizuo loved him.

**Author's Nonsense:**

Awkward sappy chapter is awkward and sappy.

Sorry I told some of you I might update early. I decided not to. Cuz I suck. :P –is lynched-

WELL HEY. GUESS WHAT. NEXT CHAPTER? _**SEX**_. I'm excited, are you excited? I'm excited. And then just one more chapter after that and this will be the FIRST MULTI-CHAPTERED FIC I'VE FINISHED BY MYSELF AND AND ACCOMPLISHMENT TIME. FFFFFFFFFFFF.

Btw I was so amazed with how many reviews last chapter got, it was so angsty! Lol, thank you guys so much! You're the best!

P.S. You _know_ Izaya is a Lady GaGa fan.


	7. Chapter 7

**xXxXx Chapter 7 xXxXx**

Friday passed as an eternity and an instant at the same time. Shizuo spent the whole day thinking, but no matter how he thought of it, he came to the same conclusion.

He loved Izaya Orihara.

Every time he thought it his heart gave a nasty flutter in his chest and he nearly fell out of his seat onto the floor. It was so intense, this feeling. And he was nervous about what had yet to come.

He ran out the door as soon as the bell rang, ignoring the call of his teacher to slow down. He had to get to Izaya's class before he left. His feet slid along the halls, which were slicked wet by the rain the students had tracked in that morning. According to the thrashing against the windows it still hadn't let up. He bumped into countless students who were heading in the opposite direction and his blonde head twitched wildly from side to side, making sure his quarry was not among them. Shizuo reached the class and braced his hands on either side of the open door, leaning his head in. Seven or eight students still lingered inside.

One of them was Izaya.

He breathed a sigh of relief and ran over to the other teen, who had his back turned and seemed to be staring out the window.

"Izaya," Shizuo said breathlessly.

The boy started and whirled around to face him. "Shizuo," he mumbled. He took a step back and his face hardened, his eyes the color of blood. "What the fuck do _you_ want?"

Shizuo faltered, caught off guard by the ice in his voice and in his demeanor. "I…I want to talk to you. I want to apologize." Among other things.

"Apology _not_ accepted," he snarled, turning to leave. Shizuo caught his hand. He tried to flinch away, but the blonde held on.

"Izaya, please." His chocolate eyes searched for any hint of compassion in the other's face, and found none. Izaya had his guard up, and rightfully so. After a month the initial rejection had probably hardened his heart to stone. Guilt blossomed in Shizuo's stomach, but he maintained his grip and his resolve.

"Fine. Let's go somewhere else."

Shizuo didn't relinquish his grasp on Izaya's wrist as he led him out of the now empty halls and around the side of the school. Izaya didn't protest as the rain soaked through their clothes, chilling their skin, but followed stoically. They walked across the muddy dirt path, dirtying themselves further from the knee down. They reached a corner behind the largest school building, next to the fence locking in the field, and Shizuo swung Izaya around and pinned him to the wall.

The sopping teen looked at him morosely, rainwater dripping from his bangs onto his nose and cheeks. "What do you want?" he repeated.

What did he want? He wanted that beautiful face to soften, to look at him with something other than hatred. He wanted to apologize more than he wanted forgiveness. He wanted Izaya to know how bad he felt, and that it was all his fault, and that he wouldn't have to worry about it ever again because Shizuo would protect him from then on. He wanted…

"You." He swallowed. It seemed strange that his mouth could be dry when the world was wet all around him. "I want you."

"You had your chance," he hissed. He tried to break away, but Shizuo caught his face in both hands and pressed their foreheads together. Izaya reached his hands up through their close pressed chests and shoulders and shoved him away. He rubbed his damp hands on his face as if to erase the traces of the other's touch and stood looking at the ground. For nearly a minute the sound of rain was the only thing that could be heard. "Do you know what you did to me when you walked away?"

The month had been just as long for him. The pain of rejection lurked behind his chest, threatening to overwhelm him if he ever showed any sign of weakness. So he occupied himself every second of every hour of every day, barely sleeping, barely eating, just delving deeper into his obsessive hobby. He had extensive connected networks of information on what he imagined was a good chunk of the area's population. None of it meant anything to him. Not when what he wanted more than anything had been denied him. And now it was being offered up to him? He wouldn't open himself up to the possibility of ripping off the scab that had just barely formed, leaving the wound open and bleeding.

Shizuo said nothing. He had been pushed out of the protection of the overhang and the rain was now making him shiver. Each drop stung like a needle.

The dark-haired teen looked up and gave a harsh, dry, laugh. "It's the same thing I did to you. I tore your heart out." Shizuo searched for words, and he continued quietly after a moment, "I deserved it."

"You didn't deserve it, I was being an idiot."

"No. I broke the rules. We had a good thing going and I messed it up for both of us."

Shizuo stepped forward again. He longed to hold Izaya, to comfort him, but wasn't sure he'd be accepted. "What we had the last couple months was so much better though."

"That wasn't me."

"Yes it was! I went through everything. Look, Izaya, I know you think you're great and all, but there's no way you could fake that personality. That's what I fell in love with. And…" He trailed off. Izaya was looking down at the ground again, avoiding his eyes. He took the chance and gently, embarrassingly, somewhat reluctantly wrapped his hand around the other's. "That means you're the bastard I fell in love with," he said with a desperate laugh.

Scarlet met mocha, but no response was offered.

"Tell me you don't still love me. Tell me and I'll fuck off for good."

He looked away and Shizuo gently steered him back and looked into his rapidly softening eyes. His own eyelids drooped as he leaned in, stopping just before their lips met. He could feel his breath, which was warm against his lips. This would be his answer.

Izaya thought furiously as the other teen waited. He could reject him again right now and the blonde would be crushed. Shizuo undoubtedly thought there was hope. Izaya could tear it down like ancient peeling wallpaper, leaving him with tattered shreds. Shizuo would sink back into his depression, and he would be the victor. That would be an Izaya Orihara thing to do.

Was that really what he wanted though?

His body felt heavy and uncomfortable, as if he was too small for it. The thought of doing that to Shizuo…wouldn't he be doing the same thing to himself? This boy he had loved—the word caused sickening pangs—could he hurt him now? This was wrong, this change he had undergone. This was not him. This was not what he was famous for. Dark, untouchable intelligence was his signature. This…_love_ weakened him. The boy in front of him was watching him intently, and it was as if he could hear the frantic beating of his heart. Or was that his own heart?

Izaya could feel his own desire for him daring to bubble up inside him, but at the same time, he was afraid to let it. Even though he had subdued the pain that had threatened to destroy him, he knew it was still there, a monster with rapidly weakening chains. He knew they would break if he thought too much about this, let the monster stretch to the front of his mind.

"Izaya…" came Shizuo's voice. Izaya blinked rapidly, and realized he had been silent for too long. The warmth of Shizuo's hand had left his, and he could no longer taste his sweet breath on his lips. He backed away slowly. "I understand. I shouldn't have…I wish I could have done things differently. I'm sorry."

"No—!" Izaya said, falling forward and gripping the sleeve of Shizuo's water-logged uniform. "Shizuo…I…" It wasn't like love could just go away. That was the heart of the monster. That had to be what his frantic pulse was about, the stinging behind his eyes, the thrill he felt at being so near Shizuo's skin. The remembrances of his touch on his cheeks and brow felt warm, as if from a blush. "Shi-Shizuo…"

"What?" His voice was soft and gentle, and his face was desperately in need of an answer.

But Izaya could give none. The chains broke and emotion flooded him as the monster clung to his heart. He shut his eyes tightly and titled his head, pressing his slightly parted lips to Shizuo's. The blonde's mouth opened readily and their tongues tangled around each other, communicating their passion, their desire, their need. Their love. The tender muscles explored their respective new territory, occasionally encountering each other and playing a little game of dominance. Izaya whimpered loudly and clutched Shizuo to him, begging his tongue to stay forever, breathing be damned. Shizuo very nearly obliged, filled with as much want as the other.

But after several long, wonderful minutes, they eventually did break, and Izaya, panting, laid his head against Shizuo's chest, still clutching the back of his sopping jacket. "I still love you."

**xXxXx**

Soaking wet, they stumbled into Izaya's house, Izaya having promised neither his parents nor his sisters were present. The door slammed shut and Shizuo pushed Izaya roughly up against it and began to kiss him again. Teenage hormones and pre-sex adrenaline drugged each of them, making their kisses messy and forceful. Hands roamed under sopping shirts, squeaking against damp bodies in pursuit of sensitive flesh. Izaya yelped as Shizuo hooked his hands under his legs and pulled him up, clinging to his neck and hanging off of Shizuo's torso with his legs as support.

Izaya leaned back against the door and worked furiously on discarding Shizuo's drenched shirt, which was proving difficult. The damn fabric was weighed down by water and from his position he didn't have much leverage. Eventually, with the two of them working together, they got it off, tossing it to the floor so it made a loud smacking sound.

Shizuo didn't waste his time on Izaya's shirt, but rather gripped the collar with both hands and tore it down the middle. Izaya laughed softly. "So impatient…"

Shizuo growled into the moist crook of the other's neck. "Bedroom?" he inquired.

"Down the hall, to the left." He whimpered as Shizuo pressed their lips together once more, ravaging his mouth. He slipped his arms out of the sleeves of his useless garment when the blonde tore the away from the door, making his way towards the intended destination.

Softness pillowed up and around Izaya's back, and he shivered, the rest of his body chilling by the contrast. Shizuo licked his lips, noticing what this had done to the other boy's nipples and knelt over him on the bed. Izaya writhed against the other boy's versatile tongue as it smoothed over his left nipple. Then his soft ministrations were replaced by a hard bite, and Izaya yelped, all the pressure going immediately to his groin. He hugged the blonde closer to him and pushed his chest up by putting pressure on his shoulders.

Shizuo growled and switched sides, leaving Izaya's sensitive skin even tighter as it cooled in the air. The dark-haired boy let out little moans as Shizuo's tongue played with and pressed on his perked bud. He nipped at it experimentally, without technique, but still eliciting a proper response from his partner. He then chose to support himself with one hand and move the other to Izaya's crotch, rubbing him roughly through the rain-soaked fabric of his pants.

"Mm, _Shizuo_…" Izaya mewled, rocking his hips up toward Shizuo's hand.

Shizuo moved up to Izaya's neck and clamped his jaw down, pressing harder on the other boy's sensitive portions as well. "Say it again," he commanded against Izaya's skin, licking the bruise that was forming.

Izaya, eyes blurry with pain-induced tears, nodded and pushed his hands into the blonde locks. "Shizuo." Shizuo ran his tongue across his collarbone, taking a detour up his neck when he reached the base of it, still working his hand between Izaya's legs.

They kissed again, long and hard. Saliva leaked from their eager mouths as their tongues pushed each other back and forth. They curled around each other sloppily, never wanting to release the slick organs, but being forced to out of their need for air. Their moans fueled more ferocity, more moaning, until the vicious circle reached its impossible peak and Izaya broke away, leaving Shizuo to assault his neck once more. He stopped rubbing Izaya in favor of ridding him of his pants altogether, which was admittedly difficult with one hand, but was still something he managed to do.

"Got any lube?" the blonde asked awkwardly, breathlessly as Izaya watched him undress the rest of the way. He felt a little bad about how uncomfortable the bulge in Shizuo's pants looked, having selfishly been preoccupied by his own problem this whole time. Shizuo didn't seem to care, though, so he decided he didn't either. In regards to his question, Izaya leaned over to the side of the bed, careful not to cross his legs and bring a world of pain upon himself, and rummaged around in the drawer of the cabinet next to his bed until he found a small bottle of lotion.

"Will this work?" He offered the bottle to Shizuo, who took it and climbed back onto the bed, now naked.

Izaya felt a little color rise to his face as he drew his legs back some, revealing his entrance to Shizuo's now slathered fingers. Then suddenly he scrambled back. "Wait," he said, stilling his partner's hand.

The other crawled up and gently brushed the raven locks from his forehead with his clean hand, planting a chaste kiss on his forehead. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said. "Just…here…lie down." He directed Shizuo to lay with his head and upper back against the pillows. Blushing furiously, he straddled him backwards and started backing up on his knees. "I just…want to do it for you…at the same time," he explained. He leaned down, exposing his ass to Shizuo's face, putting his own tongue to work on his erection.

Shivers of pleasure went through Shizuo's body as Izaya wrapped his pliant muscle around his tip, dipping it lightly into the slit in the center. He ignored his slippery fingers and gripped Izaya's cheeks, pulling them apart so he could push his tongue slowly into the entrance. The dark-haired teen ceased his ministrations for a moment, overwhelmed by exotic sensation. He put one of his hands to work while whimpering with pleasure.

When he grew accustomed to Shizuo's tongue thrusting gently in and out of him, he positioned his mouth over Shizuo's cock and swallowed it. He rubbed the shaft with his smooth lips, making the blonde lean his head back against the pillows in ecstasy. He took his still-gooey fingers and shoved two of them into Izaya's hole, using his other hand to play with the teen's balls.

Izaya whimpered and attempted to move himself so the fingers would go in deeper and push against that perfect spot. He pulled his lips off the prick and licked the underside roughly, sloppily. The recipient curled his toes and spread his fingers, making room for a third. Izaya gasped and licked up to the tip and took in Shizuo's cock again. He moved quickly up and down, sending small vibrations from his throat in the form of hums as his balls were squeezed and stroked lightly.

Shizuo groaned and bit his lip, feeling himself tighten. He stretched the skin around the base of his fingers, plunging in deeper, rubbing little circles on the inside of Izaya's body. The boy sucked harder and moved his head more ferociously, apparently urging Shizuo to do the same. He did, and heard little whines trapped in the cavern of his throat as he thrust his fingers in further. He rolled the ones on his other hand under and cupped the balls, tugging slightly on the tightening sac.

Izaya hummed with pleasure and hugged the cock into his throat. He dragged his teeth softly up it, making his partner shiver again before he resumed sucking and bobbing. He was getting wilder in his movements now, occasionally rocking his hips back towards Shizuo's hands as well. While the other could not go deeper, he could go harder, so he left some of his gentility behind and started pushing in and out with a more violent rhythm.

One last short moan bubbled up from the dark-haired boy's throat before he came. The white substance sprayed over Shizuo's chest and stomach and he managed to utter Izaya's name as a short warning that he was close behind. The other teen gave one last pull with his mouth before backing off, curling his hand around the prick and catching the sticky cum as it spurted out.

Shakily he turned around and pressed his forehead to the blonde's sternum. He ran a hand down the side of Shizuo's body and started lapping the cum off.

Shizuo suddenly flipped their positions so he was hovering over the other. Izaya looked up at him, his crimson eyes round and shy the way they darted off to the side every now and then. The blonde crouched over him and their lips melted together once more. They pecked at each other lovingly, dipping a tongue in every once in a while just to pet each other, to establish a brief connection. Lips soft and wet, arms tangling together, hands stroking.

The blonde reached for the lotion bottle and clumsily squeezed out a new allotment, still maintaining the gentle kisses as he stroked the substance onto his dick. He carefully pushed one of Izaya's legs back; Izaya blushed and moved the other of his own volition, hugging Shizuo closer to him. He gasped against the other's lips as he started pushing in, then rejoined forcefully, demanding a more fierce kiss.

Shizuo thrust in with his mouth and his hips at the same time, making Izaya yell. He placed soothing kisses on the clenched jaw, along the tensed, urging the distressed teen to relax. As soon as he felt a slight give in the muscle, he shifted and pulled back cautiously, then moved back in, earning conflicted groans. The bliss and the ache were both so potent. And the passion they had been holding back all these months, the desire to be with each other welled up, came to a peak. The boy below moaned at this influx of emotion, using it to cancel out whatever hurt there might have been.

The other began to move rhythmically. All the weeks of suppressed wanting were communicated in his frenzied thrusts, brought forth from the back of his mind. Now his entire being was consumed by need—need of Izaya. Need of his unique, wonderful, and obviously beautiful Izaya. Shizuo relished in his flushed, virginal face; his mouth was slightly open as he uttered little whimpers, and his eyes were pinched shut in an attempt to concentrate his feelings, both tangible and not. His own face was hot as well; he could still vaguely remember hating this person not so long ago. How much had changed!

He pushed his face into the crook of the dark-haired boy's neck, latching his mouth onto the skin and sucking and lapping with his tongue. Izaya moaned loudly and bucked up against Shizuo, moving into both the places they were joined. The other made a soft grunt and moved his head up to bite tenderly at the skin where his jaw and neck joined. Sensing that the teen needed more by the way his moans were growing softer, he dropped down to his forearms and immediately after stuck one of his hands between them to grip Izaya's failing erection. He fingered it softly, dragging his hand up and down it in a gentle rhythm.

These movements caused his thrusts to shift to one side slightly, and on his next entry, the other boy's breath hitched. "A-aah! Shizuo!"

"Izaya…" Shizuo returned, biting his own lip. He had clenched when Shizuo had found his prostate, and the heavenly feeling was reciprocated. The blonde worked at the prick in his hand with renewed vitality and strengthened his thrusts. He was close, and he could tell by Izaya's loud, erratic moaning that he was too.

They rocked back and forth in time with each other, shaking the bed and the world with their passion. The discomforts of sex—the slapping sound of flesh-on-flesh, the stickiness of sweat and cum, the embarrassing visceral moaning—were drowned out by the urge to be together in the deepest possible way.

Izaya reached his climax both in terms of moaning and orgasm. His cum gushed from between Shizuo's fingers and onto his abdomen. All the tension that had been stored in his body released, and all his muscles relaxed. His arms hung tiredly off Shizuo's neck, and he panted, his eyes soft and tired as he gazed up at his lover's face.

Shizuo came only shortly after, filling Izaya with his sticky seed. Both gave short little grunts, then Shizuo pulled out and rolled over to lie on the bed next to his lover. They lay there with their eyes closed, panting, minds devoid of anything but peace—peace at last. Closure. And at the same time that closure was achieved, something new was opened.

Before they could drift off to sex-induced sleep, Izaya, who had had more time to recover than Shizuo, opened his eyes with a big sigh and sat up. He gave the blonde's hand a little squeeze and said, "I'm going to go take a shower." He got up and left, the boy on the bed watching his lean form as it gingerly stepped through the doorway into the hall.

Shizuo turned his head back and faced the ceiling. Just twenty-four hours ago he had been staring at his own ceiling, slowly coming to the realization that he loved Izaya. Now he was at Izaya's house, in Izaya's bed, looking at Izaya's ceiling, and he felt a million—no, a _billion_ times better than he had yesterday. And he—

Wait.

He suddenly jerked up straight, staring at the place the other boy had been a minute ago. That tiny squeeze, that coy smile, the way he had swung his hips ever so slightly on his way out—Oh, that little—! He chuckled darkly to himself and leapt of the bed, following the sound of running water to the bathroom.

He could see Izaya's frame through the mottled glass of the shower, and could tell that it was turned away from him. He closed the door quietly enough so that it couldn't be heard over the pattering of the water on the tile and crept up to the door. He wasn't expecting this motion to go unnoticed, but Izaya stayed turned away from him even as he wrapped his strong arms around the boy's chest, resting his head on his shoulder.

He could hear Izaya smiling slightly as he spoke. "I was wondering how long it would take you. You're still kind of dull, aren't you, Shizu-chan?"

Shizuo grinned and pressed his lips to the back of the teen's slick neck, then moved back to the shoulder. He was about to speak when he noticed the slight pinkish tinge to the water that was pooling around their feet before going down the drain. He backed away from the boy, following the trail of the water up his leg—

Izaya turned around at the loss of Shizuo's arms in time to see his face contort with confusion and regret. "I hurt you—"

Izaya stepped towards him, taking his hands and smiling. "It happens. It's not a big deal."

"There's a lot of blood," Shizuo protested.

"Look, it'll probably hurt tomorrow, but right now it's okay. So we should make the most of it." He nibbled Shizuo's ear, and the taller of the two felt his lower body responding already. Had he been paying attention, he would have noticed the dark-haired boy was in a similar state. But he was absorbed in his feelings of guilt.

"I don't want to make it worse."

"I'm going to hurt _you_," he grinned maliciously, "if you keep denying me." The blonde still looked conflicted, so Izaya kissed him deeply. The water washed away the traces of saliva that escaped their sealed lips while warming their bodies with a clean heat. Shizuo couldn't help putting his all effort into the kiss. He fought with Izaya's tongue like he used to fight with Izaya himself—unrestricted and passionate.

In the end he was not the one who broke away; he was eager to keep the kiss going, but Izaya had other plans. He positioned himself so his palms were pressed against the tile of the shower wall, his ass out and easily accessible. Shizuo looked at him lustily and summoned all his energy into shaking his head.

Izaya sighed and turned back to Shizuo, the water from the spigot hitting his back and Shizuo's chest as it went over his head. He curled his harm up around Shizuo's head and pulled him down so he was looking down at both of their cocks, which were only slightly erect. "Watch," he commanded. He took two of his fingers into his mouth, one at a time (probably only for effect, as they were wet enough from the shower) and stoked them over his tongue. The other teen gulped and blushed as his dick stood up a little taller.

Izaya removed his fingers from his mouth and brought them down and behind himself. "See? You want me, and I want you—Ahh!" He whimpered as he pushed the fingers into his entrance, but quickly got used the sensation; it became more pleasurable than uncomfortable. He started scissoring and thrusting, only slightly exaggerating the accompanying moans. Shizuo's eyes darted up every once in a while to the other boy's face, as he was desperate to see his erotic expressions. The way the steam from the shower was rising all around them in a white haze, making the atmosphere increasingly sexual, did not help soothe his flustered nerves.

He looked back down lest Izaya discover his disobedience (though he wouldn't have exactly _minded_ being punished) and saw his partner's prick had also stiffened up considerably and was starting to drip. He reached down between himself and the distracted Izaya and gripped their erections, starting to pump them together against each other. The dark-haired boy whined and bucked against the hand, thrusting his fingers deeper inside himself. They continued like that for a little while longer until he couldn't stand it anymore. He drew his fingers out and positioned himself against the wall again.

"Shizuo…" he said, looking pleadingly at the teen. Shizuo took a couple steps around the boy and positioned himself at his entrance, covering the smaller hands carefully with his own.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…please…I need—Mmm!" He bit down on his lip as Shizuo entered him again and began to rock his hips. This time he wasted no time reaching down and pumping his length. Izaya moaned and his fingers squeaked against the tile as he dragged them down, moving his ass up at the same time through straining to elongate the muscles in his legs. Their sex cries echoed off the hard surfaces in the foggy bathroom and they mixed with the beating of the water on their skin. It was so unlike the harsh rain that had thrashed against them earlier, chilling them; this rain was warm and soft, like a gentle massage relaxing their tense and strained bodies.

They were in sync with each other, as if the constant weaving around and countering of each other in the years of fighting had been practice. Izaya moaned and leaned his head against the wall of the shower and curled his toes as Shizuo struck him again and again in the perfect spot. The blonde in turn uttered little gasps of contentment.

He stroked Izaya at a pace matching their thrusting—slow and with an even amount of pressure, carefully squeezing up to the tip and down the shaft again. The contact of Shizuo's hips on his supple flesh was so soothing when combined with the placid feeling of the water pattering down on them. Dull tension built up in each of them gradually; both wanted the experience to last.

Heat welled up everywhere in and around Izaya's body the moment before he came. The speckles of water washed the cum off the shower wall and he leaned his whole body against it as Shizuo pulled out. Shizuo pressed his back to the hard tile and started pumping himself. The dark-haired teen wearily shifted over to his lover, hooking one hand over his shoulder to support himself and the other over his the moving hand, joining in its movements. He nibbled the other's ear fondly, helping his hand continue the tight motions over his dick until warm cum spilled out of it.

They collapsed against each other, breathing heavily and sucking in drops of water. Just the simple pleasure of having their bodies, their hands touch was enough to send thrills through them. They just stayed there, on the floor of the shower, leaning against each other until the water ran cold.

Finally: "Shizuo."

"Mm?"

"I don't think we got any cleaner."

"Nope."

Izaya got up on wobbly legs and turned off the water. He pulled the fluffy white towel from where it was hanging over the shower and knelt back down, wrapping it around himself and his lover.

"My ass is falling asleep."

There was a chuckle from the other. "I guess the shower isn't the most ideal place for cuddling."

Shizuo sighed and planted a tired kiss on Izaya's cheek. "I should probably go," he said huskily.

"Yeah…my sisters will probably be home soon." His words disagreed with his actions, which included nudging his lips against Shizuo's for a slow, intimate kiss. The blonde slowly disentangled himself and stood up, offering a hand to his partner. They made their way back to Izaya's room, savoring the last moments of their time together by taking leisurely steps.

Izaya offered Shizuo some dry clothes, but the blonde declined, saying he didn't want to deal with any more questions from his prying brother. He grimaced as he pulled on the still-soaked garments; the sticky cold was a sharp contrast to all the other sensations he had felt that day. But it didn't matter, because he still felt light and satisfied inside. They walked leisurely and quietly back to the front door and kissed one last time, long and deep.

"Okay," Shizuo said when they had broken apart. "I promise I'm leaving now but I have one last thing to ask you."

Izaya smiled and shrugged. "Ask away."

"Wanna crash a party with me?"

**Author's Nonsense:**

.

I don't mean that in the bad way I mean it in the way that this chapter is full of homosexuality. Very homosexual homosexuality. AM I NOT RITE? _AM I NOT_?

I don't know about the shower sex. To me it seems like too much sex at one time. But I don't know what you people think. I just felt bad because I gave you guys six chapters of no porn and you only get two with porn in it, so I figured one should have LOTS of porn in it.

I've become so pervy, this stuff is so boring to me now. Hahahaha.

I'm going to paint a pumpkin with fish on it for Halloween. How weird is that?

LAST CHAPTER NEXT FRIDAY! PREPARE FOR LOTS OF GUSHING FROM ME ABOUT HOW AWESOME YOU GUYS ARE.

You're awesome now too though. Ilu.


	8. Chapter 8: FINAL

**xXxXx Chapter 8 xXxXx**

The city lights shone like stars low in the black night sky as Shizuo walked along the route to the Usado's party. He blended in with the other well-dressed people of Ikebukuro's night scene in his black jacket, blue shirt, and black tie. He had his hands in the pockets of his matching black pants, one of which was clamped reassuringly around his phone. His friends, who were already at the party, were texting him excitedly, so he had to pull it out every minute or so anyway.

Right on cue, he got a message from Shinra.

_Shinra: Shizuo, where are you? they're starting the limbooooooooo!_

Shizuo barked a laugh and returned the phone to his pocket without replying. The night was fresh and crisp, and he would rather be enjoying a nice walk then going to a stuffy party. But he had plans.

The phone buzzed again and he whipped it out once more.

_Kadota: Heyy shizuo…maybe you wanna pick up some drinks or something before you come over?_

He frowned. Talk about mixed messages.

_Shizuo: what are you talking about? they have drinks there, im sure._

Kadota responded almost immediately.

_Kadota: Nothing you like._

_Shizuo: I like whatever._

_Kadota: Just hang back for a bit okay?_

Shizuo grinned. He had a prediction.

_Shizuo: Ill do whatever the fuck i want chill_

He rounded same corner he had turned onto so many nights ago to approach the Ero-Iro Club. He could hear the loud music from where he was forty feet away, but at least he had confirmation from Usado herself that there wouldn't be seizure-inducing light effects. He unfolded his invitation from his pocket and showed it to the bouncer, who unhooked the velvet rope blocking the entrance to the door. He stepped back and opened it so Shizuo could pass through.

There were indeed no flashing lights, just streams of color criss-crossing each other from every angle of the room. They shifted slowly enough that they weren't overly distracting, and a large, slightly tacky disco ball spun on a pole coming down from the ceiling. The bar was adorned with various dishes on either end, which displayed various horderves. A bartender was serving Usado's friends and acquaintances non-alcoholic drinks.

As Shinra had said, there was a large line of people blocking him off from most of the room—the line for the limbo. Seconds after he had entered the building, Shinra himself and Kadota appeared in front of him and immediately towed him off to the side behind the large wall of people.

"Hey—what the hell are you guys doing?"

"Nothing, we're taking you to the bathroom! You looked like you had to go to the bathroom! Right Shinra?"

"Right! You know if you hold it for too long it can eventually lead to health problems such as—"

"Not now Shinra!"

Shizuo planted his feet firmly on the ground and removed his arms from his friends' grasps. "Why are you guys being such freaks?" he demanded, holding his hands out lest they try to recapture him.

Shinra was looking behind him rather indiscreetly, so he turned around and searched for the subject of the brunette's attention. He found it almost immediately, clad in a loose red dress shirt and black slacks. An overly elaborate plastic cup was dangling from his thin fingers. His white smile flashed and his black bangs shifted slightly as he laughed at something the girl he was talking to had said. And then he turned, and his eyes locked immediately on Shizuo's. He grinned slyly and excused himself, setting the drink down and heading in the trio's direction.

"Shit…" Kadota swore, his hands going to his head in an expression of apprehension.

"Uhh…Shizuo? Y-you're not going to make a scene, are you?" the other brunette asked tentatively, tapping his friend's shoulder.

Shizuo just grinned widely at Izaya and cracked his knuckles. The other teen responded by pulling his flick blade smoothly out of his pocket and snapping it open. This movement drew some attention to the scene that was rapidly unfolding, and a few of Usado's other guests shrieked and mumbled protests, backing away from the armed boy.

Finally the distance between the two supposed enemies shrunk down to about five feet. Izaya twirled the blade around in his hand menacingly. "Yo, Shizu-chan."

"Sup, flea?"

There was a tense silence as everyone looked on. Someone cut the music and there was a soft murmuring from the gathering crowd. Tension made the air thick and electric as it hummed between them.

In an instant Izaya had closed the distance between the two of them, lunging with his knife, but Shizuo reacted just as quickly and knocked it out of his hand and grabbed his arm. The captive did not resist, but merely retained his smirk.

"You know what, Shinra? I think I _do_ have to go to the bathroom," Shizuo drawled, still glaring at Izaya menacingly, whose grin only widened. He pushed the other teen in front of him and shifted his grasp from his arm to his neck, resting his fingers lightly on the boy's shoulders. By now a crowd had gathered, and though everyone generally knew the outcome of these encounters, this one seemed different. Izaya had slipped, seemed to have allowed himself to be captured.

Somehow, the two outsiders closest to the situation did not seem to recognize this. Shinra was twitching his arms in the general direction of the two, spouting nonsense. "Kadota! If Shizuo were to apply the right amount of force, he could crush Izaya's spinal cord, either paralyzing him or killing him!"

"I know how the fucking spinal cord works Shinra, shut up and do something!"

"Me? What can I do?"

"I don't know, bore them into a stupor!"

"I take offense to that!"

"Not to interrupt, but I think I'm gonna go beat this guy to a pulp," Shizuo said.

"You're so mean, Shizu-chan. Can't we get along?"

"Walk, flea." He hit the dark mop of hair with his hand before moving it back to his neck.

The crowd was wise enough to part for them as they made their way towards the bathroom that held such a pivotal moment in history for them. Shinra and Kadota tried to get in front of them, but nervously moved out of the way once they saw the ominous look on Shizuo's face, and the malicious glint in Izaya's eyes.

"Open the door. Geez, do I have to guide you through everything?"

"You could say 'please', Shizu-chan."

"No."

Despite his slight protests, he opened the door and proceeded into the intermediate room. They passed through it while the others peered in, but did not enter. With one glance behind him, Shizuo signaled his captive to open the second door and go inside. Then it closed and they were gone.

Even though he had slid the heavy bold across and locked the door, Shizuo turned around and pressed his back to it. He and Izaya looked at each other for a moment, and in their silence heard the muffled yells of their concerned friends outside, who had, judging from the vibrations on the door as they hit it, come into the middle room as well. The DJ had awkwardly attempted to segue back into party mode with a loud, cheerful song to fill the tension-filled silence. But the protests of the two outside were enough to send the two into a fit of suppressed, quiet laughter.

Soon their sounds died down into quiet occasional chuckles, and then nothing at all. And they watched each other, and soon they were on each other. Their lips made a tight seal that broke and reformed frequently as they opened their mouths to slip tongues in, and closed them to smooth their lips over them. They had only been together a few times since their first a couple weeks ago, so they were less than experts on each others' sensitive spots, or what the right techniques were and just how to apply them, but neither cared. They moaned fragments of each other's names, pulling lips and tongues with teeth, matching tongues together in sloppy, difficult conformations.

Izaya pulled away from the kiss, gasping for air, and Shizuo took this opportunity to assault his neck. The smaller of the two was pushed up against the locked door; the jolt inspired a frantic increase in the protests of those outside. However, the thrill of the possibility that they could get caught in such a public place only served to fuel their passion.

While his neck was being properly covered with kiss-induced blotches, Izaya was fumbling blindly with his partner's belt. The wretched thing finally came loose by his fingers' hard work and he whipped it out of the loops and threw it somewhere that didn't matter. The button was undone next, then the zipper, and then he grabbed Shizuo by the hips and slammed him around so he was pressed against the sink.

Shizuo leaned back and gave a throaty chuckle, letting Izaya tug his pants and boxers down his hips so his semi-hard erection was exposed. The dark-haired teen got on his knees and pinned Shizuo to the marble counter by pushing one hand against his hip. He nuzzled his mouth in between the junction where his cock met his body and began licking at the base. He then licked all the way up to the tip, making the other cringe with pleasure and lace his fingers into the soft black hair, gripping lightly. After a few more flicks of his tongue, Izaya swallowed as much of Shizuo's length as he could and started sucking. He moved his head at a gentle rhythm, using his tongue on the underside for extra sensation, making the other growl and twitch and pull him closer.

Another series of sharp raps against the door, and suddenly Shizuo jerked Izaya off of him, causing him to drag his teeth along his prick and making it sting. He restrained himself from making a noise, but his hold on his lover tightened. Izaya, on the other hand, was scowling morosely up at him, having been interrupted in the midst of doing something rather appreciable. He indicated with his expression that if this was how he was to be treated, it was not likely to happen again. The blonde ignored this and pulled his pants up so that they rested on his hips, though he was still exposed enough to be publicly indecent. The other teen now looked concerned, and stood up as well.

In an instant their positions were switched again; Shizuo had Izaya pressed against the counter of the sink, his bare erection grinding against the other's clothed backside. "…Shizu-chan, what are you doing?" Izaya questioned, legitimately confused.

"I just thought we'd try something…different." He was undoing the buttons of Izaya's shirt, tugging it out from his pants at the same time. Soon his chest and stomach were exposed, nipples perked and skin pale. Izaya watched himself in the mirror, Shizuo over his shoulder as his pants were undone and pushed down to his ankles. The blonde flicked the faucet handle up and cool water gushed forth from the spout. He dipped his fingers under the stream and before Izaya had a chance to protest, the cold wet fingers were pressed against one of his nipples.

He gasped and shivered. "It's cold!" he complained, grasping the edge of the sink tightly.

Shizuo stuck his other hand under the water before slipping it between Izaya's legs to press against his balls. "How about here?"

"Ahh! Ah—Stop it!" He squirmed and made to get his lover away from the sensitive organs, which were protesting the temperature change, but he only responded by squeezing. Izaya's hand shot back to the counter compliantly.

"You don't look like you want me to stop…See how you're blushing?" The dripping hand that had been tweaking his nipple went to his chin and directed it up so Izaya was facing his own rosy reflection. Once convinced it would stay there, he put both hands back under the faucet and then brought them back to already taught buds on Izaya's chest. He abruptly pinched them hard between his thumbs and index fingers, making the boy cry out.

From behind the door and through the extra room, they could hear Shinra's muffled call of, "Izaya, are you okay? We've called the manager, he should be here soon!"

"Looks like we're going to have to speed this up," Shizuo whispered in his ear. "And you're going to have to be louder if you want them to think we're fighting."

Izaya managed to pull off one of his signature smirks as he responded snippily, "You're the one who's taking his time making me scream, Shizu-chaa_aaAAAHH_—nng!" He shivered as now both of the buds on his chest were being pinched by the unreasonably strong teen's cold, wet fingers. His yells rose in pitch and his face grew redder as the blonde twisted them slightly. The knocking on the door got more frantic, and both their names were being shouted.

"You were saying?" He rubbed the pads of his fingers roughly over the nubs, pressing his hard length against the other's exposed backside.

"Haa…mm—_Shizu-chan_."

"What?" Shizuo's hands were catching the water that was still flowing freely.

As he clapped the freezing extremities onto Izaya's body, the boy gasped, "_Fuck me_."

Shizuo dragged his hands down his lover's body, coating it in dampness that quickly evaporated under his heat. Reaching his hips, he detached one hand and brought it up to his mouth, wrapping the other around Izaya's cock. The fingers were accepted easily, and he thrust them in and out of the moist cavern while pumping the shaft with his other hand. Izaya whimpered with pleasure and sucked hard on the fingers in his mouth, pressing against and curling around them with his versatile tongue. Every squeeze of Shizuo's hand brought more cum to his tip until it was dripping over.

He pulled his fingers out carefully, preserving their coat of wetness, and quickly brought them around to roughly shove three into Izaya's ass. "_OH! _Aahhhhaa…mmm…" Izaya rocked back and forth into the sensation of the blonde pumping him and stretching him, greedy for more. Shizuo grinned and only allowed him a few moments of pleasure before moving his hands to a more neutral location on his hips. He positioned himself carefully and Izaya drew in a breath, letting it out with a yell when the other thrust into him. This, of course, caused the people outside the door to renew their efforts at opening it.

"Ah—_AHH!_ Shizu-Chaa_aaahn…_nn_...mm…ghh…_" the smaller of the two moaned lustily and closed his eyes, leaning over the sink. He had to work harder to keep these moans quiet enough so the people outside would not hear, not sure that they would keep mistaking his sex cries for heated battle protests. He could hear the sound of the buttons on his red shirt as they clinked against the marble countertop. Shizuo bit at his ear lightly, still thrusting, and rested his chin behind Izaya's shoulder. He brought one of his hands up to cup his chin, bringing it forward again.

"Open your eyes." Izaya did as he was told. He was faced with himself, lithe and pink and shining with a light layer of sweat. Shizuo traced one of his hands from his opposite hip up his stomach, his chest, brushing against his nipples and over his collarbone while his own hips still moved. The boy whimpered as he grew closer under Shizuo's touches and whispers. "I want you to watch yourself. See what you do when I touch you here?" He brought his hands down slowly to the little pert buds, brushing aside the fabric that attempted to hide his blushing body with warm hands. His fingers tightened over them and Izaya shrieked again.

"No—stop!" he exclaimed loudly enough for their friends to hear.

"Shizuo, please don't kill Izaya!" Shinra called through the door.

"You don't really want me to stop, do you, Izaya-kun?" Shizuo whispered against his ear, ignoring the brunet's uninformed plea. And he couldn't have been more correct. Izaya was loving the danger of the entire situation, was loving the way Shizuo was experimenting on him, and was even self-indulgent enough to admit to himself that he loved the way he looked under the other teen's hands in the mirror. The blonde played with him a little more, applying different kinds of pleasure and twists while still sending him into ecstasy with his frequent thrusting.

Izaya's lips were pink and parted and his breath came in short little gasps; sometimes he moaned or whined when Shizuo hit a particularly sensitive spot of his, though he cruelly neglected his prostate. The taller of the two could not, however, ignore this sensual sight, and he turned Izaya's head so their lips would meet. It was a messy and awkward kiss, by no means one of their best, but what it lacked in precision it made up for in passion.

They broke away after the kiss became too difficult to maintain, and Shizuo put one hand on the counter next to Izaya's and one on the boy's hip, thrusting into him deeply. "AHH—SHIZUO!"

A distressed cry from behind the door. "Izaya!"

Izaya clenched tightly, panting, nails sliding against the counter, slick with sweat. His partner grunted his name as well, wracked with pleasure, and leaned his forehead against Izaya's shoulder. He was so _tight_. Whether the angle of their position was to blame for this or whether it was Shizuo's own workings on his lover's torso and dick, he didn't know. The sensitive spots in his abdomen tingled and burned and then burst as he came.

Izaya groaned as Shizuo withdrew from him, hands still clamped tightly on the counter in front of him. The blonde continued moving his hand up and down his length and drifting his fingers across his nipples until warm white cum also spilled from him.

He collapsed, his forearms were now resting on the counter and panted heavily as Shizuo slipped off of him and leaned against the ledge as well.

A tentative knock at the door.

"Are you guys both dead or something?" Kadota drawled, though his apprehension could still be heard.

"We worked out our differences!" Shizuo called as he pulled up his pants, having washed his hands. Izaya cleaned himself up as well, having recovered from their activities.

"Izaya?"

"What, Shizu-chan's word isn't good enough for you?" he responded jovially, tucking his shirt back into his pants. He knew he'd need a shower later, but he had to keep up appearances. They had decided not to tell anyone, at least not yet. Besides, it wasn't exactly socially acceptable to walk around looking like you'd just had sex.

"Well come out then so I can fix you guys up!" Shinra demanded with a wail.

Izaya wound his fingers around Shizuo's black tie and pulled him close. "Shinra thinks we need to be fixed up. Isn't that funny?"

"Hilarious," Shizuo mumbled back, pressing his lips to his lover's.

They heard Kadota and Shinra conversing with someone else, and then there was a jingling sound and the door cracked open. They quickly jumped away from each other and tried to look normal. The man who had opened the door stared at them for a few seconds, Shinra and Kadota peering over his shoulders, wondering why the two boys were simply standing around in a bathroom with the door locked.

"They look fine to me," he said grumpily.

"They do…" Kadota mumbled, turning to Shinra and giving him a questioning look.

"What were you guys doing if you weren't fighting?" Shinra asked the two as the manager turned and left, mumbling something negative about being interrupted during his programs.

"I told you," Shizuo said with a sly grin and a glance at Izaya, "we were working out our differences." He pushed past the two of them to go out into the party.

They turned to Izaya, who shrugged and followed Shizuo's lead. "Cool party, huh?"

xXxXx

_Orio369: THEY HAD NO IDEA._

_Tsuyoiboi: i seriously thought we were going to get caught_

_Orio369: It would have been fun if we had ;P_

_Tsuyoiboi: whatever you say_

_Orio369: I thought Shinra was going to cry, he looked so frustrated that we wouldn't tell him what we were doing._

_Tsuyoiboi: haha_

There was a brief lapse in conversation as they thought back on the events of the night. Shizuo's mind travelled back to the day in the rain where he had first told Izaya he loved him. He winced as he remembered back further, the hard edge in his eyes. And then he suddenly felt terrible, thinking about how rocky their start had been.

_Tsuyoiboi: Izaya_

_Orio369: Hm?_

_Tsuyoiboi: do you…ever think about that time after you told me you loved me…before i said i loved you back?_

_Orio369: Why are you bringing that up now?_

_Tsuyoiboi: because now i feel bad that i ever hurt you_

_Orio369: Do you remember what I said about what I thought about Ikebukuro?_

_Tsuyoiboi: yeah_

_Tsuyoiboi: why_

_Orio369: If I ever think about it, I just go for a walk. And I get taken in by the city and its beauty. And I think about the future._

_Orio369: There's no point worrying about the past._

_Tsuyoiboi: …_

_Tsuyoiboi: you know I love you right_

_Orio369: I know :)_

_Tsuyoiboi: …_

_Tsuyoiboi: and?_

_Orio369: And what?_

_Orio369: Oh you want me to say it too! Haha!_

_Orio369: I don't think I will._

_Tsuyoiboi: what? why not?_

_Orio369: Cuz you pulled that stunt with the water._

_Tsuyoiboi: you liked it_

_Orio369: So?_

Shizuo sighed. This conversation was not going to go anywhere, and it was approaching 2 o' clock in the morning.

_Tsuyoiboi: fine. im going to bed._

_Orio369: I'm just kidding._

_Orio369: I love you._

Shizuo grinned triumphantly as his heart gave a little flutter. He stretched back and stared at the words on the screen for a while, relishing in their meaning. He never would have expected an outcome like this, and if anyone had told him he would be telling Izaya Orihara he loved him for the hundredth time several weeks after realizing he had fallen in love with him over the internet…Well, they definitely wouldn't be breathing of their own accord.

But he was happy. Happier than he'd ever been. And he knew that wasn't going to change any time soon. Maybe Izaya was right about not wasting time thinking about the past, but maybe he was wrong about looking into the future. The best time to live in was the present. No looking back at yesterday, no worrying about tomorrow; just living today. And today he was in love.

_Tsuyoiboi: goodnight, you_

_Orio369: Goodnight, stranger._

**xXxXx END xXxXx**

**Author's Nonsense:**

I'M SORRY I DIDN'T POST FRIDAY, SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY. I'm sick again T.T I can barely talk.

Besides I figured you could wait _two more days_ for the last chapter. _SUSPENSE!_ –does a dramatic pose-

I love you all who stuck with this story from the beginning **so much**_**. **_You have no idea how much I appreciate your feedback and your praise. I do not feel like I deserve it.

And I'm incredibly sorry, but I have no plans to write a sequel to this. I have other ideas for even better stories, which I hope you will enjoy as well when I write them and post them here! I have a few short ideas that I'm going to work on first, one DRRR and one Kuro, then I'm going to do a Kuro multi-chapter for the people who watch me for that (it's only fair, I'm sorry!) and then hopefully I'll start on another DRRR multi-chapter! I have a couple in mind that I think will be really great and much more developed than this one. This was my first big fic that I'd done by myself, and I _am_ really proud of it, but I know it's not my best work.

In case you haven't seen, I _have_ started another DRRR multi-chapter, but I know for a fact that it won't update regularly. I posted the first two chapters within like…hours of each other; the next one might not be for months. So don't hold your breath on that. I will be doing other stories though like I said, and they should update more regularly.

Again, I love you I love you _**I love you!**_ Keep being amazing my beautiful readers! Thanks to you and my beta, AcornWarrior (who finished editing this story for me even though she was about to get grounded :( ilu), and my mean but wonderful inspiration Uphillbothways (who is also strangely grounded from the computer…But ilu too)! YOU ARE ALL FANTASTIC!


End file.
